Yellowstone will remind you in a hurry just how brutal it is out there in the wild.
Which is why I always find it hilarious when visitors treat it like a petting zoo… watch a massive grizz maul another grizz and you’ll think twice about even getting out of the car…
Earlier this spring, a group of Yellowstone visitors witnessed a young male grizzly bear get viciously attacked by an adult male bear, that was courting his mother, earlier this month
Not only did the adult male’s attack result in taking the young bear’s life, but the mother attacked him as well, only moments before.
It is believed that the mother, who is well-known as Bear 815 or Obsidian Sow, attacked to try and convince her young, subadult bear to flee before the boar arrived to attack.
The boar, weighing more than 500 pounds, left the three-year-old 148 pound young grizzly with such severe injuries, that the youngster ultimately had to be put down by park staff, as it was clear that he was not going to survive.
Although tourists were in close enough range to witness the attack, it is not believed that their presence was a reason for the attack. It’s not uncommon for adult male grizzlies attempting to court a female to attack young bears or cubs that are nearby, especially other males.
Another wildlife photographer on site, Paul Allen, managed to capture various photos of the vicious attack.
But please be warned, they’re not for the faint of heart.
Paul also shared a detailed, and poetic, description of what he witnessed Sunday morning at the park:
They are wild, terrible, beautiful, amazing creatures among whom I will tread all the more carefully, for what I witnessed today was, in a word, awesome.”
A humbling reminder that nature is indeed, savage.