A man who went into Great Smoky Mountains National Park to poach ginseng root (pictured here) might have been killed by a bear/NPS
A black bear believed to have scavenged on the body of a man who went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to collect ginseng roots was killed Sunday morning by park rangers. Whether the adult boar actually killed the man remained to be determined, park staff said.
William Lee Hill, Jr., 30, of Louisville, Tenn., and a friend had gone into the park near Cades Cove a week ago Friday to hunt for ginseng, a root used by some as a traditional home medicine. Prices can go as high as $800 a pound for ginseng. While the root can be collected outside the park, it is illegal to do so inside the boundaries.
When Hill failed to meet up with his friend, a search was launched last Sunday. The man's body was found Tuesday afternoon in the woods about 2 miles north of Cades Cove and about a half-mile from the Rich Mountain Road.
Searchers who found the body, which had signs of being fed on, saw a bear in the area. It "would not leave the area, and continued to show aggression towards our searchers and others who came in to remove the body," park spokeswoman Julena Campbell said Sunday.
Since it wasn't known whether the bear had killed Hill, the decision was made to place a GPS radio collar on the bear and let it go pending further information, she said. While rangers were putting the collar on the bear, they found evidence of human DNA on it, she said.
On Wednesday, park staff, in discussions with Superintendent Cassius Cash, decided to destroy the bear. However, the GPS collar placed on the animal was programmed to send out location signals every two or three hours, and so it took longer than expected to relocate the bear, said Ms. Campbell.
Additional traps were placed near where Hill's body was found, and while the bear didn't go into any of them, on Sunday morning shortly before 10 a.m. when the traps were checked the bear was seen in the area and was killed, she said.
A necropsy on the bear, which was estimated to weigh about 175 pounds, was planned. Park officials also were awaiting autopsy results on Hill to determine how he died.
"This one’s a complicated case," Ms. Campbell said. "We don’t know what we'll find out.”
Comments
Although it saddens me that the bear had to be put down it had to be done. Once it has a taste for something there is no stopping them. When I was in Cade's Cove in July, they had signs on a trail I was on that said 2 camps closed due to aggressive bear. I wondered what that meant now I know. I wonder if this is the same Bear ??
regardless of what opinions anyone has the bear now has thebtaste of blood and to keep others safe he has to go...I love bears and I love to see them but I do think human life is a lot more important than a bear life... so we do what we have to do to keep everyone safe that wants to get to see the beauty of that place without the fear of being gobbled up by a bear
That's not how it works. While this guy may have been doing something illegal, the bear can't distinguish between someone who may be in the area illegally collecting vs someone legally hiking off trail. There have been predatory attacks at front-country campgrounds where everything was done legally. It's not necessarily that anyone did anything wrong.
As for the plants, yes there are Asian communities where they especially value wild American ginseng that has a certain more natural appearance - especially close to the appearance of a human with arms and legs. Farmed varieties tend to be more uniform in appearance and are generally trimmed. I doubt there's any science to it. It's more or less superstition.
You must not go into the woods so you don't think anyone should. How about nature lovers who enjoy hiking should they be allowed into the woods?
we have food pantries to feed people, more than likely the guy was looking to make a quick buck also the bears are coming in towns because they lost a lot of their food source due to the fires last year and even when the bears come in people do not observe the 50 yard law and they feed them .Bears are wild animals give them the respect of not feeding them or get to close to them
100% agree with you
I agree.
All of you do gooders just remember. You are living in a place that was taken from the bears many years ago. Are you going to move? And if not....why? I am an avid hiker and backpacker. This planet was made and given to us by God to enjoy. I have as much right to enjoy the forest as does the bear. I just need to behave appropriately when I'm in his backyard. The same goes for the bear.