It could just be statistical anomaly, but there have been 16 grizzly bear deaths in the Yellowstone region this summer. Most are natural losses, but they are much higher than normal . . .
Bear biologists are refraining from assigning a single reason for a two-fold increase in the rate of natural grizzly bear deaths in the Yellowstone National Park region.
Ten of the 16 grizzlies that have met their ends this summer have died of natural causes, according to data from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.
Historically, humans are to blame for more than 75 percent of the bear deaths in the first half of the summer. While the rate is just 37 percent this year, it is derived from a small sample size, and biologists aren’t jumping to any conclusions.