GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK, N.C. — Officials have identified a man whose remains were found scattered near a campsite in the North Carolina portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a bear lurked nearby.
The park said the remains belonged to Patrick Madura, 43, of Elgin, Illinois, news outlets reported on Sunday.
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His remains were found near Hazel Creek Trail after backpackers discovered an unoccupied tent Friday and saw the remains “with a bear scavenging in the area,” rangers said in a news release.
Rangers responding to a call said they also saw a bear “actively scavenging on the remains” and euthanized the animal.
“Our wildlife biologists, who are experts in human-bear conflicts, believe that once a bear has scavenged on the remains of humans that they pose a real serious risk of doing that behavior again,” the park’s spokesperson Jamie Sanders said. “We never want bears to associate people with food.”