Bear that fatally mauled Kansas woman in July is killed after breaking into house

A grizzly bear that fatally mauled a Derby woman on a forest trail west of Yellowstone National Park in July has been killed after it broke into a house near West Yellowstone over the weekend, Montana wildlife officials said.

Amie Adamson, 48, of Derby, was killed in July. She was a former English teacher and was working in Yellowstone for the summer.

Early Saturday, a homeowner reported that a bear with a cub had broken through a kitchen window and taken a container of dog food, park officials said in a news release Wednesday.

Later that day agency workers captured the cub and shot the 10-year-old female grizzly with authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, because grizzly bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Through genetic analysis and other identifying factors, the bear was confirmed to have been involved in the July 22 fatal attack on Adamson about 8 miles from West Yellowstone. Efforts to trap the bear at that time were unsuccessful.

The bear, which had been captured in 2017 for research purposes, was also involved in an attack in Idaho that injured a person near Henrys Lake State Park in 2020, according to the Associated Press.

The park is 16 miles by road from West Yellowstone. Both encounters with people were believed to have been defensive responses by the bear, officials said.

The bear’s 46-pound male cub is being held at the state wildlife rehabilitation center in Helena while arrangements are made to transfer it to a zoo, the AP reported.

Contributing: Associated Press and Michael Stavola of The Eagle