A girl was discovered useless after “an apparent bear encounter” on a path close to West Yellowstone, Mont., officers mentioned in a press release on Sunday, noting that grizzly bear tracks had been discovered on the scene.

The physique of the girl, whose title and age weren’t launched, was discovered on Saturday on the Buttermilk Trail west of West Yellowstone, a city of about 1,200 residents that’s roughly one mile from Yellowstone National Park.

Officials on the Custer Gallatin National Forest, which is a part of the Yellowstone ecosystem, issued an emergency closure for components west of West Yellowstone to deal with what it described in a press release as “human safety concerns” associated to bear exercise.

The circumstances of the girl’s demise have been unclear. The Custer Gallatin National Forest and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Sunday night time.

On Saturday morning, the Custer Gallatin National Forest warned on Facebook that the Buttermilk Trail and surrounding areas have been closed due to bear exercise.

Grizzly bears, that are a federally protected subspecies of brown bears in all decrease 48 states below the Endangered Species Act, roam all through Montana. Their populations have expanded throughout the state lately and, in some circumstances, grizzlies have been noticed in locations the place that they had not been seen for greater than a century, together with within the Pryor Mountains, the place the species had seemingly not been seen because the late 1800s, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Park mentioned in a press release.

That growth “enhances the long-term prospects for population sustainability” for the bears, nevertheless it additionally “poses new challenges” for Montanans as a result of the animals can harm property or injure individuals, the division said.

Officials have warned guests to “be bear aware,” prompting concern amongst some residents, who’ve been reporting extra sightings.

Grizzlies are bigger than black bears, with adults standing greater than eight toes when they’re reared up on their hind legs. The common weight of a grizzly bear is 400 to 500 kilos for males and 250 to 350 for females. And the bears can run as much as 35 miles per hour.

Last month, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks posted an undated photo of a grizzly bear standing virtually as tall as a shed, its lengthy and curved claws slashing bits of wooden.

This month, the division mentioned a grizzly bear had been captured and euthanized after it had “several conflicts with people” alongside a reservoir in Flathead County, about 380 miles northwest of West Yellowstone. The male grizzly bear was “food conditioned and habituated” to individuals, the division said, which generally implies that the bears had sought or obtained meals from individuals, destroyed property or displayed aggressive habits towards individuals.

The possibilities of being attacked by a grizzly bear, nevertheless, are extraordinarily uncommon. Since Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, solely eight individuals have been killed by bears within the park, most not too long ago in 2015, according to the National Park Service. Since 1979, 44 individuals have been injured by grizzly bears within the park, which has seen greater than 118 million guests throughout that point.

“More people in the park have died from drowning (125 incidents) and burns (after falling into hot springs, 23 incidents) than have been killed by bears,” the service mentioned.

Still, the hazard is actual and officers have pointed Montanans to a number of suggestions: Carry and know how one can use bear spray; journey in teams when doable and plan to be out within the daytime; keep away from carcass websites and concentrations of ravens and different scavengers.

Officials additionally advise residents to look at for indicators of bears, like torn-up logs and turned over rocks, partly consumed animal carcasses and bear scat. Park or path guests must also make noise to alert bears to their presence, notably after they go close to streams or stroll in thick forest.

The ultimate tip is easy: “Don’t approach a bear.”

A town-hall assembly to debate bears is scheduled for Monday night in Big Timber, a metropolis of about 1,600 residents greater than 90 miles north of Yellowstone.