Park rangers shot and killed the right bear in the GSMNP

National Park rangers shot and killed a black bear that was suspected of attacking a small child in the Roaring Fork section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park outside Gatlinburg Tennessee which was in fact the right bear based upon the necropsy performed at the University Of Tennessee College Of Veterinary Medicine.

Inside the bears stomach content part of the kids' sneaker who was attacked was found conforming the identity of the black bear. Before park officials shot the bear they had a description of the black bear by size and when they observed the bear, it exhibited unusually aggressive behavior towards them.

Black bear attacks are rare in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and are normally related to food incidents or when instigated intentionally or not by park visitors. In this case the black bear was unprovoked and there was no food present.