Yellowstone’s 11-year-old grizzly euthanized after raiding bear-resistant dumpsters

An 11-year-old male grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park was euthanized on May 14, 2025, after learning to overturn 800-pound bear-resistant trash dumpsters to access human food.

The adult bear, weighing approximately 800 pounds, became a significant safety concern for both park visitors and other wildlife in the Old Faithful area.

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Grizzly bear was a threat to public safety and other bears

While typically, wildlife experts rely on non-lethal techniques to keep bears away from human food sources, such as noisemakers and pepper spray; these alternatives were no longer an option.

As the bear posed a serious threat to both humans and other wildlife, park rangers had to euthanize the animal from preventing him to get other bears accustomed to human food. “The decision to kill the bear was made to ensure public safety and reduce the chances of other bears becoming habituated to human food,” Yellowstone officials stated.

Relocation, was not an option either, as adult male bears like this one are generally not suitable candidates for relocation.

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Human-wildlife conflicts are a leading cause of bear deaths

According to the National Park Service, the most common cause of death of bears in Yellowstone are by human causes. Especially, collisions between bears and vehicles, that's why rangers enforce strict speed limits.

Yellowstone bear management biologist, Kerry Gunther, expressed sadness over the fact that the 11-year-old bear had to be put down. “It’s unfortunate that this bear began regularly seeking out garbage and was able to defeat the park’s bear-resistant infrastructure,” she said in a statement.