Brian Matayoshi of Torrance Killed in Yellowstone Bear Attack: Animal, Given Reprieve, Was Said to be Protecting Her Cubs

By Dennis Romero Thu., Jul. 7 2011 at 3:52 PM

The site of the Yellowstone bear attack.

A mama grizzly bear that was looking after her cubs in Yellowstone National Park was startled by a husband-and-wife pair of L.A.-area hikers and mauled the man to death this week.

The Torrance victim was ID'd today as 57-year-old Brian Matayoshi of Torrance. His wife, Marylin, was nearly killed as well as the bear picked her up by her daypack and let her go before heading for her husband. She yelled for help, and nearby hikers called 911.

But when rangers showed up about 11:30 a.m. yesterday, Matayoshi was gone. He suffered ...

" ... multiple bite and clawing injuries," according to a National Park statement.

It happened at the Wapiti Lake Trail as the pair was about 1.5 miles from the trailhead and walking back to a car.

Hiking trails in the area were closed after the attack. But the bear was given a reprieve. According to the statement:

The initial investigation suggests the sow grizzly acted in a purely defensive nature to protect her cubs. This female bear is not tagged or collared, and does not apparently have a history of aggression or human interaction.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]

Tags:

animal attack, bear, bear attack, Los Angeles, Torrance, Yellowstone

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Clarence Matayoshi

Too bad there is no reprieve for Brian Matayoshi. In our national parks it seems like the welfare and protection of it's animals are paramount to the protection of human life. In Alaska if you go out into the woods or go fishing you won't find too many Alaskans who aren't armed. Armed meaning carrying a large caliber handgun, rifle, or a shotgun. The attitude in Alaska appears to be " Mr. Bear, you don't bother me I won't bother you".

Anonymous

Let the bear live. People need to pay attention.

Julieluna84

I worked with Brian :'( my prayers go out to the family, and I think the bear should be tagged.

This story is starting to get ripe!

The Park service has marketed this incident as a sow protecting her cubs; however, this statement was copied from the Yellowstone NP's website:"It appears that the couple spotted a bear approximately 100 yards away and then began walking away from the bear."http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkne...

Sow bears normally don't run 100 yards to protect their cubs. If this were normal, I would be dead. I have been much closer to grizzly cubs and their moms. I have been closer to black bear cubs.

Don't worry, I eggressed the area as soon as I could to avoid a conflict with the sow.

The Park service is populated with tree-huggers who believe that a human should give-up their lives to allow a grizzly bear to eat well.

In one week I will be in Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP. I will be packing a hand-cannon and lots of bear pepper spray. I will live-and-let-live all animals who grace me with their glory. A gizzly bear who runs me down from 100 yards is getting a snout full of pepper spray followed by supersonic lead.

Thanks to Senator Coburn, protecting oneself with a gun is now legal in NPs.