A black bear that attempted to enter two tents while they were occupied with campers on the Bighorn National Forest on the night of July 5, 2026, has been lethally removed.

On the evening of July 23, Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel responded to a report of a black bear in a camp off Forest System Road 15. The reporting party said the bear had frequented the area for multiple nights, accessing food and showing a notable lack of fear of humans in the area. When the bear returned to the camp that night, it was killed by department personnel and a tissue sample was sent to the Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Laramie.

On Aug. 5, lab results confirmed DNA extracted from the tissue matched DNA from a saliva sample collected from one of the tents involved in the July 5 incident off Forest System Road 178 near Fool Creek. The distance between the two locations is approximately 4.5 air miles.

After the initial incident at Fool Creek was reported, Game and Fish personnel set multiple traps at the location with the intent to capture and lethally remove the bear to protect public safety. Personnel also contacted campers in the vicinity and advised them of the situation. Unfortunately, warning signs indicating that bear trapping was taking place in the area were removed by unknown members of the public, which could have created a safety issue for other members of the public who did not receive notice of bear trapping taking place. It is also possible that by spending time in the vicinity of the traps, the individuals may have interfered with the opportunity to capture the bear.  Traps were removed on July 8 and additional signage was placed in the area to advise campers of the previous conflict.

The reported behavior of the bear during the two conflicts suggests it was food-conditioned, and had likely received human-provided food rewards in the past. Food-conditioned bears can become destructive and dangerous in their attempts to obtain human food.

The Bighorn National Forest has a  wildlife attractant storage requirement in place requiring forest users to secure any potential attractants so they are unavailable to bears and other wildlife. Members of the public are encouraged to  follow Bear Wise practices when camping or recreating in bear country to reduce the potential for a conflict. 

Any conflicts with bears should be reported as quickly as possible to local Game and Fish personnel or to the Stop Poaching Hotline at 1-877-WGFD-TIP. Early reporting of conflicts provides wildlife managers more management options. 

-WGFD-