Bears as Predators ~

[brotherbear]

Fortress of the Grizzly by Dan Wakeman and Wendy Shymanski - The Bluff Charge:

As soon as we shifted, the bear stopped eating. He stared at us nervously, the usual sign in bear body language that we were too close. Pausing, I lowered my head to look at the bear through my camera's zoom lens. What I saw in the viewfinder almost made me drop the camera - the 600-pound grizzly was charging toward us, ears flat against his head and legs fully extended. My heartbeat thundered in rhythm with the bear's galloping feet.

Many people in this situation would panic and run, or cock their rifle and shoot the bear. But after so many years in the company of these creatures, I have learned not to act so hastily. I told the visitors to stay calm and trust that the bear had no intention of coming anywhere near us. As hoped, the grizzly turned away from us halfway through his charge and resumed his grazing.

... I never intentionally cross into the safety zone. On the few occasions when I accidentally found myself too close to grizzly bears, they have shown a lack of aggression. Even the two most Common disaster scenarios - human stumbling upon a bear with carrion or a mother with cubs - have not produced any problems in the Khutzeymateen. The carrion scenario happens more in areas frequented by moose and caribou, while the mother bears we encounter remain remarkably calm in the presence of visitors.

My experiences in the Khutzeymateen and other areas lead me to believe that grizzly bears are peaceful creatures that do not look for confrontation, and that the blame for the antagonism between humans and grizzlies falls more on homo sapiens than ursus horribilis. Reply