A young bear was euthanized along with its sibling and suspected mother after injuring two Idaho residents on their porch in a pre-dawn attack last Friday.
The mauling occurred at approximately 3:30 a.m. In the Sunset Heights subdivision near Salmon, Idaho, a rural community of just over 3,000 people in Lemhi County. One victim required emergency airlift to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, according to Idaho Fish and Game. The second victim’s condition was not detailed in the agency’s statement.
Idaho Fish and Game mobilized its Wildlife Human Attack Response Team after receiving notification from the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities deployed a professional houndsman to track the animals, eventually locating the young bear responsible, a sibling, and an adult female believed to be their mother. All three were euthanized.
“Idaho Fish and Game was notified by the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office and mobilized the IDFG Wildlife Human Attack Response Team to secure the scene,” the department said in its statement.
The attack comes amid heightened bear activity in eastern Idaho. In July, a jogger with his dog was attacked by a bear in a state park in Fremont County, southeast of Lemhi County. That jogger managed to walk out under his own power, and his dog escaped unharmed.
The Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office issued direct guidance to residents on Friday about preventing bear encounters at residential properties.
“To prevent bears from coming into your house, you must remove outdoor food smells, secure all potential entry points, and use deterrents around your property,” the sheriff’s office said in its statement.
The Sunset Heights subdivision sits on the edge of Salmon, where residential development interfaces with habitat supporting both black bears and the occasional grizzly. Wildlife officials did not specify which species was involved in Friday’s attack.
The porch attack represents the most serious human-bear encounter in the region since the July incident in Fremont County, which also prompted an agency response. That earlier case involved a jogger in a state park setting rather than a residential area.
The helicopter transport of one victim to Idaho Falls, roughly 160 miles from Salmon, underscored the severity of injuries sustained in the mauling. Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center serves as the primary trauma facility for the region’s scattered rural communities.
Both agencies emphasized that human-bear conflicts escalate when animals associate residential areas with food sources, leading to habituation that often ends in wildlife officials destroying the animals.