An adult female black bear has been lethally removed from Yellowstone National Park after becoming conditioned to human food, marking the first bear euthanized in the park for this reason in 5 years.
According to a press release from the National Park Service (NPS), the bear first caught the attention of Yellowstone staff on June 7 when it crushed an unoccupied tent at a backcountry campsite near Blacktail Deer Creek.
The aggressive behavior continued, and on July 11, the same bear successfully accessed and consumed campers’ food, even though it was properly secured on the provided storage pole.
Due to escalating risks posed by the bear’s behavior and the inability to reverse its conditioning to human food sources, park staff euthanized the bear later that same day. Yellowstone officials reiterated the importance of visitors strictly following food storage guidelines to prevent similar incidents and ensure the safety of both wildlife and park guests.
Be Bear Aware
Park officials instruct backcountry campers to store food in park-provided bear-resistant boxes or poles.
“Although it is uncommon for bears in Yellowstone to obtain human food, when it does occur, bears can quickly become food-conditioned and may act aggressively or dangerously around humans,” the press release stated.
The bear’s ability to “defeat” the storage poles was a major factor in the decision to kill the bear. “We go to great lengths to protect bears and prevent them from gaining access to human food in all areas of the park,” Yellowstone bear management biologist Kerry Gunther said in the press release.
“But occasionally, a bear outsmarts us or overcomes our defenses. When that happens, we sometimes have to make the difficult decision to remove the bear from the population to protect people and property.”
Yellowstone National Park is home to several hundred grizzly bears and an untold number of black bears. The last time staff made the decision to lethally remove a black bear was in 2020. In that incident, a bear stole a group of campers’ food and bit one of the individuals.
Not the Only Recent Troubled Bear
Yellowstone National Park has had to deal with grizzly bears conditioned to human food recently. In May 2025, park officials trapped and euthanized an 11-year-old male grizzly. The bear had repeatedly overturned bear-resistant dumpsters and accessed unsecured trash in areas such as Old Faithful, Nez Perce Picnic Area, and Midway Geyser Basin.
Yellowstone continues to enforce strict regulations and invest in bear-resistant infrastructure, including dumpsters, trash cans, and food storage lockers. Park officials stress the importance of visitors complying with proper food storage guidelines to protect both wildlife and human safety.
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