Grizz Killing

Bonecollector

Veteran member
Mar 9, 2014
5,862
3,667
Ohio
I'm sure some of you have heard this story:

There are more than 750 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park, but none as famed as a brawny, cocoa-colored male dubbed No. 211.

He was best known by his nickname, which was inspired by his fight-maimed face and damaged right ear: Scarface. He roamed far, wide and often within sight of delighted tourists and their cameras. He was captured, collared and released by biologists 17 times, making him “one of the most studied bears,” in the region, according to the Associated Press.

By last fall, those scientists were warning that Scarface might not make it through the winter: He’d dropped from a peak of 600 pounds to 338 pounds. At 25 years old, he was elderly.

[Cubs of a euthanized grizzly that killed a Yellowstone hiker will get a new home]

They were right that his time was short. But Scarface didn’t die of natural causes. Last week, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks department released a statement that said No. 211 had been fatally shot in November near Gardiner, Mont., just outside Yellowstone’s northern edge.

The bear’s death is now under investigation by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, because grizzly bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and most killings not carried out in self-defense are illegal. The Montana state agency offered no details about the the killing or why it was not announced sooner, and a Fish and Wildlife representative contacted by the Washington Post declined to comment.
 

sab

New Member
Apr 13, 2011
15
0
I have got to respect an animal that lives to the point where mother nature says its time for you to go. This bear almost did it !
With no predators, and no hunting season on them, methinks this feat is not so uncommon...

Regards,
Scott
 

87TT

Very Active Member
Apr 23, 2013
593
1,052
Idaho
I don't know. They say he was in bad shape. How do we know it wasn't trying to make a meal out of someone or someone's pet or livestock? The story doesn't say they didn't know who shot it. A hungry, read poor shape, animal is dangerous.
 

ivorytip

Veteran member
Mar 24, 2012
3,769
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SE Idaho
I think its funny that every news thing out there across America is calling it the famous bear, I go to Yellowstone every year, if not 2 or 3 times a year and I've never even heard of this bear. kind of like that lion in Africa, ceisal??? this is just going to push the delisting process back about ten more years.
 

6mm Remington

Very Active Member
Mar 27, 2011
977
48
Western Montana
I truly hope he wasn't poached, but sounds like he was. That's too bad. Sounds like he had an amazing life and likely gave us many offspring. I sure hope they allow us to manage and hunt a few of these amazing animals every year! It's time.
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
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Gypsum, Co
I believe that the odds are that a hunter shot him in self defense or just because the bear was getting way too close. The bear had gone from a weight of around 600lbs down to 338lbs, now if they know what his weight was when he was shot they got to his caucus before another bear or the other carrion eaters started to work on him. Which to me says that he was shot and then whoever shot him reported it.

I don't see a link to the story so here it is, even if it is from the Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/05/02/famed-yellowstone-grizzly-scarface-shot-and-killed-spurring-investigation/
 

Matthoek21

Veteran member
Mar 18, 2011
1,904
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Peachtree City, GA.
I think its funny that every news thing out there across America is calling it the famous bear, I go to Yellowstone every year, if not 2 or 3 times a year and I've never even heard of this bear. kind of like that lion in Africa, ceisal??? this is just going to push the delisting process back about ten more years.
True...true! It's all about how they spin it to make the lion or bear look as cuddly as one from a Disney movie. And these people will even try and ruin your life even before having any facts...smdh! Sorry I am rolling it all into one simple statement but you probably know what I mean.
 

luckynv

Active Member
Aug 3, 2014
274
1
Henderson, Nv
We were in Yellowstone in 2012 and watched "Scarface" through a spotter for about an hour one evening. He had a large scar on the right side of his head that was quite visible. Hence his name. He was near Canyon Village when we saw him even though we were 500+ yards from him the rangers were trying to shoo us away. Thats too bad he would have made a nice rug!! God bless