Man bitten at bear park, again

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

A 23-year-old male employee was mauled by a brown bear at the Great Bear Adventure Park on Friday afternoon (Nov. 2) in Coram.

According to a broadcast report on KOFI radio, the man was identified as Brock Hopkins. A family member said he was recovering and "doing fine."

The incident marks the second bear attack on Hopkins. He was bitten at the Park in July 2004 and was hospitalized in that incident as well.

Hopkins suffered several bites to his body, including a bad injury to his kneecap. He was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center via ALERT helicopter.

Russ Kilpatrick, the owner of the Park, reported the incident to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks about 20 minutes after the incident, Tim Feldner, FWP's wildlife permit manager said.

Feldner said the employee was feeding and watering the bear when the incident happened. The Park houses three brown bears as well as black bears at the facility. The brown bears are neutered and are about 7 or 8 years old, Feldner said.

The park advertises the brown bears as grizzlies on its sign outside on Highway 2, but the bears aren't true grizzly bears, Feldman said.

Feldman noted that Kilpatrick has been in complete compliance with his FWP permit to operate the roadside menagerie. The park wasn't open at the time of attack.

The employee mauling was just an unfortunate incident and something that could happen when people are close to large animals with teeth and claws, Feldner noted.

In a 2004 interview, Kilpatrick said bears bit employees, including himself, regularly.

"My son's been bit, my daughter's been bit. Lord knows how many times I've been bit. We've all been bit," he said at the time. "Anyone who works with large animals will have some type of bumps or bruises."

The business is operated as a car park, "where your car is your cage."

A phone call made to a number listed as Kilpatrick's on FWP documents was not returned.