LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – A black bear that gained notoriety when she learned to open bear-proof backpackers' food canisters has been shot dead by a hunter.
Wildlife officials say the 20-year-old bear known as Yellow Yellow was killed on Oct. 21 in the town of Jay in the eastern Adirondacks. Her name came from the yellow ear tags biologists had placed on her.
The bear was so well known for her ability to work the locks on BearVault food containers that the company advertised that its product was approved for use everywhere but the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks.
Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman Dave Winchell tells the Adirondack Daily Enterprise that the hunter contacted DEC because the bear was wearing a radio collar. Her yellow ear tags were missing.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
