Staff Report

The bear that bit a visitor to Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been put to death, despite a major effort to save it and amid sharp criticism of the park for its plan to destroy the animal.

The park announced Thursday afternoon that the bear was euthanized on Wednesday “in accordance with widely accepted wildlife and visitor use management policies and practices.”

The 60-pound female bear, which was underweight but described as being older than the age of 2, bit a park visitor May 12 on the Laurel Falls Trail.

Despite a massive effort by people to save the bear and have it transferred to another facility or game preserve, the park says it couldn’t do that.

“Contrary to what continues to be stated on Web sites and blogs, transferring an animal that has attacked and injured a person, to another location, is simply not an option,” park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said.

The bear was put to death following American Veterinarian Medical Association guidelines on euthanasia, she said. The bear will be examined for research analysis.

Park wildlife personnel monitored the Laurel Falls Trail since the incident occurred.

“They did not identify another bear with the type of behavior that was exhibited by the bear involved in the incident,” Gray said. “Comparison of the bear with the photographs, taken by a visitor on the day in question, confirmed we were dealing with the same animal.”

Because the bear had become used to eating food from humans — there were reports visitors had been feeding this bear around Laurel Falls Trail for at least two weeks before it bit somebody — it couldn’t be put back into the wild. Appalachian Bear Rescue in Townsend wasn’t an option because it usually is given younger bears that have been orphaned or injured, not bears that have had this kind of contact with humans and can’t be returned to the wild.

Gray said park officials hope the incident and the attention it got will make people learn policies and procedures that keep animals from being in peril when they come into contact with humans.

“We sincerely hope that the intense focus directed at this particular animal will now be directed at gaining the public’s cooperation in adhering to the rules and regulations designed to protect both wildlife and visitors while visiting not only the Great Smoky Mountains, but all public lands,” she said.