STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
A black bear that had been creating havoc in campgrounds behind the Sawtooth National Recreation Area headquarters has been deposed of.
Idaho Department of Fish & Game employees trapped and euthanized the male black bear Saturday night.
The bear had made physical human contact twice and was getting into coolers, garbage and other items that had been left unattended.
One camper reported she awoke to find the bear’s mouth around her foot inside her sleeping bag. When she screamed, the bear ran off. The bear brushed the arm of another camper.
Forest Service officials had closed Murdock and other popular campgrounds in the area as a precaution.