Yellowstone National Park staff killed an adult female black bear on July 11 after it climbed a pole and ate human food.
The park explained in a release Thursday that campers are required to store their food in bear-resistant boxes or up on storage poles to keep the animals from eating it. Bears that get used to human food can become aggressive against people to get more provisions.
Yellowstone rangers noticed the bear on June 7 after it crushed an unoccupied tent at a campsite in the northern part of the park, which sits on land in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
The bear returned to the campsite on July 11 and climbed a storage pole, tearing into food bags. Since the bear’s behavior escalated, Yellowstone staffers decided to kill it. They did not mention any injuries to the campers using the site.
“We go to great lengths to protect bears