Sheriff: Fierce wounds complicate MT mauling probe

Published November 6, 2012 12:47am ET



BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — An animal trainer mauled to death while cleaning the Montana pen of two, 500-pound captive brown bears used for filmmaking suffered extensive wounds that make it impossible to determine if he was conscious before the attack, authorities said Monday.

There were no defensive wounds on the hands or arms of 24-year-old Benjamin Cloutier when his body was pulled from the pen Sunday, and he apparently had not used the bear spray he was carrying, said Demetri Price, head trainer at Animals of Montana near Bozeman.

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