Report: Warning signs were removed at Yellowstone area before grizzly bear mauling

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — An investigation has found that researchers who tranquilized and studied a grizzly bear hours before the animal killed a hiker near Yellowstone National Park removed warning signs as they left the site.

An investigation report released Monday also says the victim knew the researchers were studying bears less than a mile from his summer cabin, and he hoped to meet them on his hike so he could ask them about their work.

The 430-pound bear killed 70-year-old Erwin Frank Evert of Park Ridge, Ill., on June 17 at the site where the bear was trapped and studied.

Authorities shot and killed the bear two days later.

The report recommends that the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, which studies grizzlies in the Yellowstone ecosystem, adopt detailed standards for posting warning signs.