Bear attacks on humans still pretty rare occurrences

• Special Note: The circumstances surrounding this recent attack are at the very least a little puzzling and unusual. An unprovoked attack by a Black Bear is in itself very unusual unless the bear is a sow with cubs or the bear has been injured in some way. It should be noted that the Black Bear is not nearly as aggressive as the Grizzly bear of western Canada and is far more tolerant of Human presence. It should be mentioned that dump/landfill-site bears can on very rare occasion run the risk of being a threat to Humans because they become habituated to Human garbage which translates to them becomming familiarized to Human scent and this can sometimes result in the bear identifying Human scent and Humans as prey.
  
• The Black Bear is an omnivore meaning that it eats both vegetation and meat but the majority of it's diet is made up of berries, nuts, grasses, and sedges about 85% of the time. The meat portion of their diet is actually quite small. They are opportunists to a large degree concerning the meat portion of their diet.

In the last two decades there have been a number of bear attacks on humans and some of these have been fatal. However they are still relatively rare occurrences. Allow me to clarify several points regarding bear behaviour.

Nine times out of 10, a Black Bear which chooses to charge will not make contact with the individual. By this I mean that in almost every case a bear will bluff-charge, but not completely follow through with an all-out attack. I have been quite close to Black Bears and have only encountered a problem once.

On this occasion the bear was a female with two yearling cubs. She simply wouldn't tolerate my presence at a landfill site in Georgian Bay, Ontario. She charged; coming at me with ears flat and her body fully stretched out.  I immediately dropped to the ground and folded up in a fetal position expecting the worst; however, she abruptly discontinued her charge as quickly as it had begun. She continued to hold her ground but did not attempt to close the distance that still remained between us...a distance I would estimate at maybe 35 to 50 meters. I slowly stood up showing her my full size and moved away slowly while still facing her.

I watched as she sniffed the air and chomped her upper and lower jaws together which signifies extreme stress-related and aggressive behaviour.  In plain terms momma bear was saying I was too close and she was in no mood to put up with it. I was not going to argue.  The point I am making is this: if she had wanted to attack, she could have easily done so, but didn't. I admit circumstances could have been radically different for me had I chosen to turn and run.  I wouldn't have made it and I strongly urge others in similar situations to not try and  out run or out climb a Black Bear. In short bursts they have been clocked at 40 km's per hour and can cover just about any kind of terrain very quickly.

Bears, like dogs, will instinctively give chase and attack almost anything that chooses to run, so when considering this, it is no surprise that some who try to run from a bear get attacked.

Bears for the most part are solitary creatures and usually only socialize during the breeding season. Although there is one other exception.

Bears will congregate in sometimes astonishingly large numbers where abundant sources of food can be found on a regular basis. Under these circumstances they learn to put up with each other. However the tolerance level quickly diminishes if the food source is depleted or all together cut off, as was the case affecting Grizzly and Black Bear in Yellow Stone National Park in the 1960's. These bears had been feeding almost exclusively at local dumps since the park opened.

Bleachers were provided so that people could come watch the bears forage and be entertained by their antics.  More often than not over 10 bears, a mix of Grizzly and Black Bear could be seen at any given time digging through the human refuse. This was all good fun for park managers and spectators until the bears began relating human scent to human garbage and, in turn, considered humans as food.

Fatal and serious non-fatal attacks began occurring with enough frequency that officials closed the dumps. With a swift beaurocratic sweep of the hand and despite loud opposition from Dr.'s John and Frank Craighead, two highly-respected American bear researchers, the dumps were shut down.

I spoke to Dr. John Craighead about this incident and he commented that officials had no idea what they were getting themselves into at the time. The Craigheads opposed the sudden closing of the dumps for fear of the repercussions this would have on the bear population.

Unfortunately, their warnings were not heeded and the dumps were closed, cutting off the bears' main food source. Unable to find alternate food stocks (because they had been largely habituated to human food) many of them died or were shot pilfering bee hives, or because they were seen as a threat to human life.

Either way you look at it, the bear problem (including the attacks) were initially created by people and the so-called solution was even worse. Many bears died as a result of poor human judgement .

Throughout the summer wild berry crops are an important food source for bears. But if these crops are not sufficient in any given year it can dramatically impact the amount of weight a female and her cubs must put on before winter. This scenario holds true for the male as well. A certain amount of body fat needs to be accumulated by a certain time. Abundant food supplies in summer equals survival through the winter.

Therefore, as determined by nature's time clock, if adequate food sources cannot be found, bears are sometimes forced to seek food in rather unconventional places (such as Towns, Cottaging areas, campsites, etc) and this can lead to human/bear confrontations and possible attacks.

However, in all fairness to bears, those that decide to wander into populated areas are not specifically out to get us, but instead, are merely following their noses to food smells.

The reality is that most bears who accidentally venture into populated environs can suddenly find themselves in very confusing situations when dealing with traffic, buildings and strange and loud noises.  Couple that with overly-excited, over-reactive and sometimes foolish people and there exists a potentially dangerous situation.  This is where giving the bear, or bear's lots of space is crucial.

More often than not, if left alone, it, or they, will leave the area and head back to the bush. If, on the other hand, they over stay their visit, a dart gun works wonders and no animal has to be shot dead.

There have been far too many cases in recent years where bears, including females with cubs have been shot dead without question due to over-reaction and lack of knowledge about bears by Law Enforcement or others that hold some official power. Although darting is not as simple as it may sound, it is a humane alternative to killing a lone bear, or a female with cubs. However, if too much serum is injected suffocation can easily occur; if not enough is applied, the bear can easily run three blocks before passing out. Therefore, I admit, each situation needs to be assessed independently.

But regardless of this, in the past far too many bears have been needlessly shot and killed by the MNR or other individuals because they accidentally or, in some cases even deliberately (when looking for food), ventured in to populated areas.

I'm certainly not the first to question what might strike some as a pattern for shooting first and assessing the situation later. Numbers of people have contacted me regarding bear problems or various other animal-related concerns over the years who have been absolutely against contacting the MNR for fear of the course of action they might take.  I am not suggesting for a second that the public, Animal Control Officers, the Police, or the MNR be complacent about a Black Bear or bears appearing in a town or other public area, because naturally safety is of the utmost concern.

However, I am suggesting that all courses of action should be attempted to either let the bear or bears leave peacefully on their own, and if that does not work, use a tranquilizer dart rather than automatically using a bullet. Most bears, if given space and respect, will not attack a person.

Remember, when you take into consideration the number of black bears out in the wild, coupled with the copious numbers of people who are also out in the bush during the warmer months hiking, fishing, camping, etc, it is quite apparent that the vast majority of Black Bears are happy to avoid us.