A 3-year-old girl was attacked by a black bear Sunday night at 10 p.m. while she slept in her tent at Perry’s RV Park and Campground near Red Lodge, Montana. She was transported to a hospital in Billings, where she was treated. Her condition is not known.
The park was evacuated and temporarily closed after the incident.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) later reported that a black bear has been captured and euthanized at the campground. FWP believes it was the bear involved in the incident but is continuing with capture efforts at the site until tomorrow afternoon.
The bear apparently ran off after the attack when the girl reacted. Adults were present at the campsite, but it was not known if they were inside the tent at the time of the attack.
Bears are attracted to the area because the town sits along Rock Creek, a travel corridor for wildlife, according to Ravalli Republic newspaper. Plus, the town is near large sections of wildlands.
Last month, a grizzly bear that was food-conditioned was shot and killed by FWP staff as it had been breaking into homes and businesses near and in the town of Gardiner.
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Thank you, RV Travel! 🙂 Wow! Yikes! I wonder how seriously talk of closing the campground will become, if it begins at all? Given the setting, it seems likely that similar events can easily occur. True? Thanks again, have a great day, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
Neal, this was a black bear, not normally a bear that will attack a human. The parents are to blame for this incident. If they had followed rules we hear all the time to keep attractants in hard sided containers & garbage dealt with this wouldn’t have happened. Hope the little girl recovers & her parents learn a lesson. Sadly the bear paid for their ignorance.
Thank you for the additional information, the clarification, Kathy H! 🙂 This makes the event all the more distressing, and tragic. 🤔😯🙁 Safe travels and safe stays! 🙂
We have rules in areas that have bears (should be everywhere) Do not leave food and other garbage around campsites! Why on earth should a campground shut down because of people who feel rules don’t apply to them?
It’s so frustrating how folks who follow the rules are limited in enjoying life for the people that must ignore the reality of the real world. All the world is not Disney operated and we don’t want it to be. (Just read a review of a county park campground that allow vegetation to be “messy” – that’s what the natural world is!) I suppose those of us who have camped in bear country safely need to get more pro-active!
I live in Montana, not too far from the town of Red Lodge where this campground is close to. Our news reported the girl was released from the hospital but has a lengthy recovery ahead of her. The reason (as reported by the Billings news station Q2 news) for the bear attack was all the attractants left around the tent. Garbage, food, open drinks that were not water, dirty diapers. The parents are to blame for this little one being injured & the bear (maybe the right one, they are not sure!) being killed. As usual, human’s are to blame for the wildlife being killed.
You are 100% correct! Why do they always kill the animal? They are just doing what they naturally do and we are in THEIR HOME. It is very upsetting that the rangers don’t even know if it was the same bear. I have a cabin in the woods and have seen bear up close. They are neat to see but you must remember they are a WILD animal. It is not a cute, cuddly stuffed toy. If you are going to be in the woods/forest you need to do everything you can to prevent this from happening. Having anything sweet around is a no-no, even in a locked vehicle. Their sense of smell of tremendous.
I was camping after July 4 and the state park gave you a paper that said don’t leave any food or garbage out. Early in the morning I walked past a campsite with my dogs and sure enough the campers left the food and garbage out. Something got at it and spread it out. I guess the campers couldn’t read.
Annoying isn’t it. Then the animal is conditioned to look for food at camp sites, becomes a pest & is killed.