Washington, June 20 (IANS) A grizzly bear was shot dead after it mauled a 70-year-old man near Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming state in the US, officials said.

The adult male bear attacked and fatally wounded Erwin Frank Evert, authorities said Saturday.

Officials tracked it down via a radio collar and killed it near the site of the attack, Eric Kezsler, spokesman for the Game and Fish Department was quoted as saying by the CNN.

The bear had been captured Thursday in the Shoshone National Forest by a team studying grizzly bears, who later released it after tranquilizing and putting the radio collar on it, the sheriff’s office said.

Evert was in the forest with his wife, a member of the team of researchers. He was attacked when he wandered back into the capture area, the officials said.