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Yellowstone National Park officials are still keeping 10 square miles of the park closed to hikers where a California man was mauled by a grizzly.

57-year old Brian Matayoshi was killed while hiking with his wife about a mile and a half from the Wapiti Lake Trailhead Wednesday morning.
Matayoshi and his wife Marylyn came upon the sow and her cubs while they were foraging. The couple saw the bears and tried to back away, then ran when the sow started charging.

Brian was attacked first, dying from multiple bite and claw marks. Rangers say the bear then ran after Marylyn, picked her up by her daypack, then dropped her. She yelled for help when the sow left.

The attack hasn't impacted the mid-summer flow of tourists into the park, and most tourists seem to understand the backcountry risk of a bear encounter.

"The bear was only doing something that by nature, it does," observed Bob Brigger, who was visiting the park from Ontario, Canada.

"Anybody that spends time in the backcountry or even coming into a park where grizzly bears are prevalent I think should understand those risks," said Jeremy Young of Logan, Utah.

Park administrators say they won't be destroying the bear or her cubs because she was acting in self defense.

Pam Stoker of St. George, Utah agreed with that approach.

That's a hard one but I think I agree with them because this is the bear's natural habitat we're in his land."

YNP Wildlife Biologist Kerry Gunther says the park will monitor the grizzly and her cubs from the air, and send ground teams in to hike the area and make sure it's safe before re-opening the trails to the public.

The park is using this to once again reinforce the importance of bear safety. Those tips include advice to hike on designated trails in groups of three or more people, staying alert and making noise especially in areas with blind spots.

Also the Matayoshi's were not carrying bear spray, something rangers recommend.