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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Montana: In an attempt to capture a grizzly bear that killed a woman traveling alone on a forest trail near Yellowstone National Park, local wildlife workers put out bear traps for a third consecutive evening this week.

The Gallatin County Coroner’s Office said that 48-year old Amie Adamson from Derby, Kansas, died in the July 22 fatal mauling near the Montana-Idaho border.

Officials suggested that Adamson died while traveling alone following a chance bear encounter in a wooded area populated by grizzly and black bears.

Morgan Jacobsen with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said Adamson was killed a few hundred yards from a trailhead and a private campground and RV park, adding that the bear was traveling with one or more cubs, and there were no indications that it tried to eat the victim.

The coroner’s office said a hiker found her body around 8 a.m. on July 22, and the cause of death was excessive blood loss caused by a bear mauling.

Authorities have not decided whether the adult bear would be killed or relocated if captured, Jacobsen added, noting that Adamson was wearing running shoes and did not have bear spray, a deterrent that wildlife experts recommend people carry in areas frequented by bears.

Tracks of a grizzly bear and at least one cub were found at the scene of the attack near the Buttermilk Trailhead, some 8 miles west of West Yellowstone Park.

Hikers, horseback riders and people riding off-road vehicles frequently use the trail.

Rangers issued an emergency closure of some parts of the Custer Gallatin National Forest, but this did not cover Yellowstone National Park.

The bear could have struck out defensively after being surprised when Adamson came around a corner, said local resident Bill Youngwirth.

“I tell everybody, ‘Better take bear spray and know how to use it.’ And the big
thing is, do not go alone,” he said, according to the Associated Press.