Yellowstone grizzly killed after flipping 800-pound dumpsters in hunt for food

A grizzly bear was killed after it found a way to flip over dumpsters twice its size and outsmarted other bear-proof dumpsters in its hunt for food in Yellowstone National Park, officials said.

Park staff trapped and killed the 11-year-old grizzly Wednesday, May 14, after it repeatedly searched for human food in some of the park’s busiest areas between April 3 and May 13, officials said in a May 15 news release.

The 400-pound bear ended up finding human food and trash near Old Faithful, the Nez Perce Picnic Area and the Midway Geyser Basin parking lot — and as a result, risked becoming food-conditioned and posing a threat to public safety, officials said.

“In addition to developing a strategy to flip over 800-pound dumpsters, the bear also uprooted smaller bear-resistant trash cans from their concrete bases to gain access to human food and garbage,” officials said. “The decision to kill the bear was made to ensure public safety and reduce the chances of other bears becoming habituated to human food.”

Officials didn’t elaborate on the bear’s dumpster-flipping method, but a photo shows the massive dumpster upside down with trash scattered everywhere.

“It’s unfortunate that this bear began regularly seeking out garbage and was able to defeat the park’s bear-resistant infrastructure,” said Kerry Gunther, the park’s bear management biologist. “We go to great lengths to protect bears and prevent them from becoming conditioned to human food. But occasionally, a bear outsmarts us or overcomes our defenses. When that happens, we sometimes have to remove the bear from the population to protect visitors and property.”

The last time the park killed a grizzly bear as part of “management action” in Yellowstone was September 2017, after that grizzly destroyed tents and ate human food from backcountry campsites at Heart Lake, officials said.

The park provides bear-proof food storage lockers in campgrounds, food storage devices in backcountry campsites, and bear-proof garbage cans and dumpsters throughout the park, officials said.

“Yellowstone reminds all visitors that utilizing these bear safety measures remain crucial in ensuring public safety and preventing wildlife from developing dangerous habits,” officials said.

This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Yellowstone grizzly killed after flipping 800-pound dumpsters in hunt for food."