I don’t think the animal should be put down either, but yes Gerald did something wrong either by intent or accident.
At the very least the animal should be housed where he could not come close enough to humans to harm another one.
The animal displayed an aggressive behavior against a human. It cost the human his life.
It should be pointed out that humans have to use caution too. I would not knowingly come close enough to a large animal for it to kill me.
These shots of people treating wild animals like household pets are tragic. Even if they get away with it a few times, it encourages others to try it who won’t.
It’s an animal doing what animals do. Why punish the animal for that.
Having grown up in Montana I can tell you that the locals laugh their asses off whenever they read a story about idiotic tourists in Yellowstone Park who try to pet the buffalo and getting fired for their efforts.