Humans and bears - Wild encounters

[peter]

In some parts of the world, humans and bears are neighbours. Not good neighbours, though. Humans require ever more room at the cost of wild animals. It is to be expected the struggle for space will result in encounters and victims. Most encounters are never reported, but things change when there are victims. 

In Canada and the USA, brown bears attack humans every now and then. When a collission can't be avoided, the damage usually is considerable. The reason is brown bears are large animals. Predatory attacks seem to be rare. Black bears are quite a bit smaller and not as aggressive, but they are not to be trifled with and quite many attacks have a predatory nature. In the north-east of the USA, black bears are larger than those in the north-west and Canada. The reason is no competition from brown bears.

National Parks and reserves attract many visitors each year. In a smallish reserve in New Jersey (of all places), a group of five was suddenly confronted by a black bear. The animal started to follow the group and the members lost their nerve. They, if understood correctly, decided to split up. Each for himself, that is. At the meeting place a little later, only four showed up. The fifth member was found dead later. The bear was still close. He had killed the student and paid with his life as well.

One reads about hikers followed by predators at times. Cougars, coyotes, wolves, tigers and black bears following hikers often do not hesitate to show themselves. The reasons are not well understood, but it could be territory is a good candidate. When you lose your nerve and run or split up, instincts are triggered and accidents happen. 

Here's the story about the incident in New Jersey (from the New York Times). There are more reports in more newspapers. If you read them as well, chances are you will be able to get to the full picture:   

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/nyregi....html?_r=1 Reply