Yellowstone Park Ranger Fends Off Charging Grizzly Bear With Rubber Bullets

Some of the wildest footage you’ll ever see has emerged from one the wildest places on the planet, Yellowstone National Park.

A park ranger was reportedly outside of his vehicle attempting to direct traffic when he was suddenly charged by an aggressive male grizzly bear. The bear appears to possibly have been limping on its front leg, which could explain its aggressive behavior.

The video was recorded on Friday, the same day that a grizzly bear mauled a hiker in a different part of the park.

The park ranger is caught off guard by the charging bear, but he’s able to retreat behind his truck bed and fire off some rubber bullets in self defense. Once the bear retreats for the woods, the ranger then uses explosive devices (presumably bird bombs) to drive the bear further away with the loud noise.

Wildlife Photographer Details The Encounter

Wildlife photographer Deby Dixon reportedly spoke with a Yellowstone bear manager about the issue and relayed a massage on social media that helps contextualize the situation in the video.

“This is why visitors should maintain their distance from the bears. This guy meant business!

This boar had been following a sow around all day, in Yellowstone, and was reported to have charged about 6 cars throughout the day when people blocked the bear’s path.

Apparently, the sow would cross the road and then people would pull their car up in front of the boar to get photos, blocking him from reuniting with his girlfriend. As you can see, getting between a grizzly and what he wants can be bad news.”

Yellowstone recommends that visitors stay a minimum of 100 yards away from bears, especially when they can’t safely get back to their vehicles. Because even if you’re 100 yards from that bear, he’ll run you down in a hurry if you can’t get to safety.

And despite the scary incident, Dixon added that a number of tourists were still out of their cars and walking around near the area where the bear was.

“Even after this boar charged the ranger, several visitors and photographers were still standing along the road, watching the sow leave, despite not knowing where the boar had gone.”

Recently, another Yellowstone tourist made headlines for walking up to film a grizzly. The sow bluffed a charge, but it could’ve been all over for her had the bear chosen to actually pursue her.

Park officials are still looking for her.

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