Published July 9, 2026 02:41PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A black bear attacked a campsite in Wyoming\u2019s Bighorn National Forest in early July, ignoring attempts by two campers and their four dogs trying to scare the animal away. Now, experts say the bear\u2019s unusual behavior signals its comfort with humans and could become a dangerous problem in the future.<\/p>\n
On July 5, two women, Shonna Dehl and Maggie Basset, were camping near Fool Creek, a scenic drainage in the northern part of the forest. Although the duo had no food or scented items in their tent, the bear tore into their tent in the middle of the night, Dehl recounted on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chris Servheen, the former national grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), told Outside<\/em> that in his opinion, the bear should be euthanized.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bear is way too aggressive around humans, and should be removed immediately,\u201d he said. \u201cThis bear\u2019s dangerous, and he\u2019s not going to change. This incident is only going to reinforce this kind of behavior, so the next people he encounters, he\u2019s probably going to do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The dogs barked, and the women eventually fired gunshots near the bear to scare it away. Their attempts didn\u2019t work, however, and the two hid in their parked cars nearby, honking their horns to keep the bear away, according to an interview with the Montana outlet KTVQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took all the precautions to pack up all food and drinks and nothing in our tents, but the bear went straight for us and our tents. It would not be deterred, and we had to abandon camp in the middle of the night, but the bear still came back and completely destroyed our tents,\u201d Dehl wrote in her Facebook post.<\/p>\n When the bear wouldn\u2019t leave, they reportedly drove away. Upon their return in the morning, they said the bear destroyed their campsite.<\/p>\n