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Dangerous Bear News For The End Of The Millenium

© Gerald Eugene Smith

I have heard some disturbing news lately. There were no less than SEVEN deaths due to grizzly bears last year, all in the Western Canada/Southeastern Alaska region and at least three fatalities that I know about this year (the reports were from Alaska). It is truly extraordinary to have ten deaths like this in less than 2 years. Can you imagine the furor that would erupt if ten surfers had been munched by white sharks the last two years in California? Five of the deaths last year were attacks on fishermen. One was a predatory attack on a hiker in Alberta in broad daylight, a M. O. more characteristic of a black bear or a polar bear. The three deaths this year I have heard about in Alaska were attacks on armed hunters and the bears were apparently first wounded before they killed.

I have received news that the Pacific coastal region was under severe environmental stress this year and possibly the year before. There has been a serious drought in B.C. and the salmon runs have failed (there is all sorts of finger-pointing on this one, including accusations of over-fishing by Americans and Japanese). Starving grizzlies have been moving into human settled areas to look for scraps and a lot have been shot. The bear population is thought to be in a state of crisis. I wonder if this has anything to do with the exceptional number of acts of serious violence against humans?

I have not heard anything about problems with black bears, other than a large male attempting to prey on two boys fishing by a lake. The boys jumped into the lake when the bear charged them. The bear followed them, but he was at a disadvantage in the water and the boys whacked him with large sticks. The bear soon gave up and left. This is another illustration of the importance of fighting back when attacked by a predatory black bear. As the saying goes, "Play Dead = Play Dinner". Even if the attack was not originally predatory, it may become so if you are too passive. This advice does not apply to attacks by mothers defending their cubs or to most grizzly attacks. Usually, in such cases, the less fuss you put up, the better.

The mother of the Texas woman who was killed at Liard Hot Springs a couple of years ago went back there this year and she says nothing has changed. Since there was a non-fatal attack by a predacious black bear at Liard only a couple of years before the one referred to above, don't be surprised if you hear of yet another tragedy at Liard in the next couple of years.

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