Woman found dead near Yellowstone after grizzly bear encounter

A woman was found dead on a Montana trail near Yellowstone National Park after a grizzly bear encounter. 

The woman was found dead Saturday near West Yellowstone, a town in the Custer Gallatin National Forest just west of the iconic national park, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Sunday, according to The Associated Press.

The woman was found dead "following an apparent bear encounter," the state parks service said after investigators determined grizzly bear tracks were at the scene. The department also said the investigation into the attack is ongoing. 

The area where the woman was found, which is popular for hikes, was closed by rangers.

The department did not confirm her cause of death, only stating that the death appeared to follow her encounter with the bear.

The incident comes amid a heightened number of grizzly bear sightings. In a statement last week, the Montana department said that this year it "has confirmed grizzly bear sightings in several places where grizzlies haven’t been seen in recent years, and in some cases more than a century."  

The number of grizzly bears and the range of the animal is continuing to expand, the department also said. People in the area are advised to avoid attracting bears by storing garbage in bear-resistant bins, to avoid leaving out food and to put up electric fencing around fruit-bearing plants and compost piles. 

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.