72-year-old berry picker shoots Montana grizzly that attacked him

A man picking blueberries on Flathead National Forest land Thursday night was charged and attacked by a grizzly bear. The 72-year-old, whose identity has not been released, shot the bear dead with his pistol, according to a statement from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Friday.

Few details have been released about the incident, although the victim’s injuries were serious enough that he was hospitalized. No details have been released about the man’s condition or prognosis, but he was apparently lucid enough to contact authorities and explain the encounter. The man told authorities he was picking berries alone about 2 miles north of Columbia Falls, off the North Fork Road, when the sow attacked.

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“Wardens and bear specialists responded to the incident and confirmed that an adult female grizzly bear had been killed,” the agency wrote in its terse press release. “FWP is in the process of verifying the presence of cubs. FWP determined that this was a surprise defensive encounter. No additional information is available at this time.”

MFWP spokesman Dillion Tabish told the AP that wildlife officials had set up trail cameras to confirm the presence of cubs. Even if the cameras document young grizzly cubs in the area, Tabish said he’s not sure they’ll be captured, since it’s difficult to find rehabilitation facilities qualified to accept them.

“Depending on the age (of the cubs we find), we may release them into the wild because they have a better chance of survival, rather than having to euthanize them,” Tabish told the AP.

Grizzly bears have a slower reproductive rate than black bears, and it’s possible she didn’t have any cubs this season. Once grizzly sows reach breeding age (between three and eight years old), they give birth to one cub every three to four years until they’re in their mid-20s, according to the University of Montana. The average litter size for a grizzly is two cubs, although individual litters can range from one to four cubs. Cubs typically stay with the sow for two to three years before dispersing.

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This is the second known grizzly attack in the Lower 48 this year. In May, a backcountry hiker in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park was attacked by a sow shortly after encountering a cub. He deployed bear spray, which he credits with saving his life, and was hospitalized for days with serious injuries to his leg, back and hand. There were at least two high-profile grizzly attacks in Montana last year, with a trail runner killed by a bear in West Yellowstone and a man losing part of his jaw to a grizzly in Big Sky.