BILLINGS — The three-year-old girl who was injured by a black bear at a campground near Red Lodge over the weekend is set to be released from the hospital.
The family of young Madison Findley-Dickson was visiting Red Lodge from Washington; they say she has a long recovery process ahead of her after she was attacked in her sleep inside the family's tent at Perry's RV Park and Campground.
After the incident, the park was evacuated and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks began searching for the bear.
On Monday evening, they trapped and euthanized the bear believed to be the one responsible for injuring the child, but was not 100% certain it was the right bear.
The bear was a sub-adult female that FWP said had never had any other conflicts with humans, but after this weekend, they found it necessary to kill the bear in order to protect humans.
A GoFundMe has been created that states:
On Saturday, August 10th at 9:00pm, my precious daughter Madison was attacked by a black bear while camping while she was asleep. As my husband is currently starting a new job, I’m in need of financial help due to Madison having tons of upcoming doctors appointments for her recovery.
If you would like to donate, click here.
FWP said that there were many unsecured attractants found in the tent, including garbage, food, drinks that weren't water, and some dirty diapers.
FWP's communications manager Chrissy Webb said the story is a tragic reminder of how important it is to be as bear aware as possible.
"We always want to remind folks to store those items," Webb said. "That's everything from garbage to food to, you know, scented toiletries. To store those in a hard-sided vehicle or other, you know, certified bear-resistant container to make sure to avoid instances like this, where bears are attracted to a tent because there are items with a scent in there."
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