Helena, Mont. • The death of a ranger, Brad Treat, in 2016 was a wake-up call for grizzly bear biologists.
Treat, an avid mountain biker, was zipping along at about 25 mph through dense forest near Glacier National Park on a summer afternoon when he collided with a large male grizzly bear.
Apparently startled, the bear reacted defensively and quickly killed him. A witness couldn’t see what happened but could hear it. “I heard a thud and an ‘argh,’” the unnamed witness told investigators. Then the bear made a noise “like it was hurt.” The bear disappeared before emergency responders arrived.