O.C. Boy Scouts Investigated in Bear’s Killing

A Huntington Beach Boy Scout troop is under criminal investigation for allegedly stoning to death a 1 1/2-year-old bear during a camping trip to Yosemite National Park. But Scout leaders vehemently insisted Friday that they acted in self defense.

Acting chief ranger Don Coelho said the 75-pound bear died about 10:30 Monday night at Tuolumne Meadows from “blunt force trauma,” and the initial investigation did not indicate that it was killed in self-defense.

“There does not appear to be a good reason for what they did,” Coelho said. “It looked like it had been stoned to death.”

But troop leader Ron Roach of Fountain Valley and a parent, Bob Woodard of Huntington Beach, said they were traumatized by the incident. The men said the camp had been terrorized throughout the night by groups of bears and that they acted in self-defense, following the directions of a park pamphlet which instructed campers to discourage marauding bears by throwing stones.

“We are devastated,” Roach said. “It was a freak accident.”

The men said that five times throughout the night, bears entered their campground, pulling at their backpacks, pulling food down from trees and pawing at canisters.

“We were afraid for ourselves and the boys,” Roach said.

He said he and Woodard threw one rock each into a dark area where they thought they saw two bears approaching. They heard a thud, and the next morning the found a dead bear, he said.

“One of the stones made a thud. It was a pretty sickening sound. We were trying to scare the bears away.”

Roach said, “We feel really bad about it. We were scared to death. Nobody slept that whole night.”

“Nobody,” Woodard said, “grieves more for the bear than we do.”

The men said that on Thursday, they and two of the Scouts decided to go home, and that they told the rangers on the way out what had happened. The rangers then issued citations to them.

Randall Williams of Huntington Beach, another father on the trip, said that when he heard on Friday people thought they had maliciously killed the bear, “It really upset me.”

Scott Gediman, a park spokesman, said it is possible the men acted in self-defense. But he said black bears usually are not aggressive. The dead cub was the size of a dog, he said.

Gediman said that a mother bear and her two yearlings wandered into the area looking for food. That’s when the bear was killed, he said.

“Apparently, they started beating the bear and didn’t stop,” he said.

Rangers will “attempt to prove a case” of destruction of wildlife, Coelho said.

Eight boys and five adults from Troop 1 were on the camping trip and 50-mile hike through the park. They returned home Friday night.

Devon Dougherty, a spokesman for the Orange County Council of Boy Scouts, said he had heard of the incident but did not know any details.

Dougherty said he would surprised if the Scouts did anything wrong.

“The Boy Scouts have been leaders in preservation and conservation for 85 years,” he said. “We encourage that.”

Greg Shields, spokesman for Boy Scouts of America, said he had heard the news but didn’t know any details.

“My phone has been exploding today,” Shields said.

Federal law makes it a crime to kill animals in national parks, except in self-defense. The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by fines and jail time.

Gediman said signs are posted throughout the area warning people of bears in the area. The signs recommend that campers store food in secure containers and if they encounter bears to scare them off by yelling.

“The bears are generally not aggressive,” he said. “They are just going for food.”

But Roach shared a copy of a pamphlet distributed by the rangers advising campers to throw rocks at trespassing bears.

The bear’s body was being brought down from the campsite as part of the investigation.

Reports of the bear’s death upset park and concession employees who heard the news by listening to rangers discuss the case over their two-way radios.

“None of us can believe anyone would do this,” said Allen Mourton, assistant manager at Tuolumne Meadows store. “It makes you wonder what people are teaching their kids. We all want to make sure that nobody gets away with something like this.”

Also contributing to this report was the Associated Press