Bear Safety: Observing Bears Without Mishap in our National Parks

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August 19, 3:24 PM

by Randi Minetor, National Parks Examiner

 

 

   Evan Pala's arm after the attack/courtesy of KnoxNews.com

The boy, Evan Pala of Boca Raton, FL, was lucky: He survived the unprovoked attack, in part because of the brave actions of his father, John, and ten-year-old brother, Alex. They fought the bear off of the younger boy with their bare hands, and chased it away by throwing sticks and rocks.  It’s a story of uncommon heroism—but the story is even more unusual because such attacks, while highly publicized, happen so infrequently that every incident becomes major news.

Statistically, the odds of being attacked by a bear are very, very low, especially in the Great Smoky Mountains. In the past ten years, upwards of 90 million people have visited the park—but in the last decade, only eight bear attacks (including the one this past Monday) have taken place there. That means visitors have a fewer than one in ten million chance of being mauled by a bear—certainly not enough to keep tourists from going to the park.

In fact, bears are one of the reasons so many people go to the Smoky Mountains.  Bears may be the most beloved of the “megafauna,” the largest animals we see in the national parks.  In Great Smoky Mountains and in parks throughout America’s western and northern frontier, visitors flock to board tour buses and drive scenic roads to catch a glimpse of black bears and the larger brown (grizzly) bears in the wild.  Viewing a bear from the safety and comfort of a vehicle can be a seminal moment: seeing a bear and her cubs feeding on berries through the trees, or witnessing an Alaskan grizzly catching a salmon as the unlucky fish struggles upstream. In Great Smoky Mountains, “bear jams” clog Newfound Gap Road and Cades Cove as tourists stop their cars to watch a black bear make its way along the edge of a meadow.

There’s little danger in watching bears from your car, but hikers may be more at risk for bear encounters.  The National Park Service offers a list of bear safety rules to help hikers stay safe and alert in the wild.  They’re good advice for any park visitor, whether you wander in the wilderness for days or drive the park roads for an afternoon:

1.  Never feed or toss food to a bear. Most black bear attacks on humans happen because the bear wants food that it can see and smell.  When people feed bears, the bears can become aggressive with humans in its hunt for more food from people.  Park staff is then forced to destroy bears that display this aggressive behavior, as they did with the bear that attacked Evan Pala.  Please don’t feed the bears!

2. If you’re camping, keep your food in bear-proof containers or in your car.  Some parks provide these containers for a nominal rental fee; check with the park you plan to visit. Never leave food lying around your campsite.

3.  If your proximity makes the bear change its behavior, you are too close.  Stay at least 150 feet away from the bear.  If the bear approaches you, swats the ground with a paw or vocalizes, he is demanding more space. Back away slowly, and make a lot of noise. Don’t turn your back and run—the bear can outrun you.

4.  Never back a bear into a corner or surround it.

5.  If a bear approaches you and appears to have an interest in your food, let go of the food and slowly back away from it.  

6.  If the bear continues to approach or acts aggressively, stand up tall and throw any objects you can find around you: rocks, sticks, branches and so on.  Wave your arms and act aggressively in return.  Playing dead is a last resort.

7.  Report any bear incident to a park ranger as soon as possible.

If you stay alert, watch the woods and open areas around you and keep your distance when you see a bear, you’ll enjoy America’s wild places while avoiding any close encounters of the threatening kind.

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