Teton Canyon reopens after bear pushes camper out of hammock

Teton Canyon reopens after bear pushes camper out of hammock
 
JACKSON (WNE) — Camping in Teton Canyon has reopened after wildlife officials killed a bear thought to be the aggressive bruin that pushed a camper out a hammock roughly two and a half weeks ago.
Caribou-Targhee National Forest Teton District Ranger Jay Pence said the bear likely could have been saved — and the incident avoided — had it not gotten into human food in the past.
“That bear was habituated because someone gave it an easy meal at some point in time,” Pence said.
“If that bear had not received food rewards, we wouldn’t have had to deal with it in that way,” Game and Fish spokesman Mark Gocke said of euthanizing the female black bear.
More education could have reduced the severity of the June 10 encounter in Teton Canyon, in which the camper was able to retreat to their car while the bear tore up their hammock and tried to enter an occupied tent, Pence said. 
Gocke confirmed the bear was captured June 16 returning to the site.
Despite attempts to reach people with bear aware signs as they enter the popular camping area east of Driggs, Idaho — and bear-safe food storage in the campgrounds — the Forest Service can’t reach every camper. Pence said the problem is that people — newcomers and longtime locals alike — don’t stop to read those rules. 
Pence said the onus is on individuals to do the right thing and lock up attractants — anything with a smell, including toothpaste and sunscreen — to protect themselves and bears.
 
This story was published on June 29, 2022.