A distress signal, initially thought to be from a crashed aircraft, caused the searcher to. I went to the backpacker who was. According to sheriff officials, he was beaten by a grizzly bearin a remote Wyoming wilderness.
Airplanes and helicopters had not crashed, but crew members preparing to search the Frankspeaks area on Monday received a signal received by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, Sheriff Park County. I learned that it is from the Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Officesaid in a statement on Tuesday. Officials said the PLB "usually is not carried by hikers."
A 68-year-old Buffalo, New York man on a backpacking trip for several days activated his device after being severely beaten by a grizzly.
The helicopter team found the man and flew to another helicopter at the rendezvous point. The helicopter flew him to a hospital in Billings, Montana.
Sheriffs and Wyoming game and fish department officials have not disclosed the man's name or medical condition.
The man had a bear spray, but the bear surprised him and he didn't have time to use it, a sheriff statement said.
Around Francs Peak, the 13,000-foot peak of Washaki Wilderness, southeast of Yellowstone National Park , Known as the Grizzly Habitat. ..
The Yellowstone region, which spans parts of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, is home to more than 700 grizzly bears. Grizzly bears in the area have killed at least eight people since 2010.
The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida, coordinates inland search and rescue operations in the 48 states of the continental United States.
In 1975, grizzly bears were one of the first animals to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. And as I reported last year, what has happened since then, especially in Montana, is a story of both conservation and conflict. See Bill Whitaker's "60 Minutes" Report on the following video players .
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