Not ruling out a bear, but bears generally leave sign of their presence, and I saw nothing to suggest a bear. The lack of damage to the neck and throat and the massive wounds to the flank, hindquarter, and azz suggest coyotes as more likely than a cougar based on some of the posts above.

There was no obvious sign of poor health or lack of winter nutrition, but if the switch to winter browse to suddenly abundant grass can be devestating to the digestive system, I can see how this suddenly weakened spike could have been vulnerable to coyotes.

Hooves looked perfect, to the extent I examined them, which wasn't a lot. I'm near certain the spike wasn't hit by a car given its location. It's possible it had been wounded by a poacher, since I couldn't see enough of the carcass to verify whether it had been shot.

Dcrzfitter,

I've seen wolf kills in YNP, and if this was a wolf kill, then it must have been only one wolf. Not that much was consumed, as of Sunday afternoon. I'm skeptical about your assertions that "they" are planting wolves anywhere in the state unless you have some clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. Otherwise you sound like you're part of the wolf conspiracy theory.