In North America, grizzlies have a much more limited range than black bears do. How do you tell a black bear from a grizzly?įirst off, know your area and read up on the bears there. NPS and Pratt say this is a time to fight. However, if the attack persists, fight back vigorously.”įighting back a grizzly bear is the last resort – “your Hail Mary pass” as Pratt called it – when all other options are out.Īn exception to this rule: If you’re camping in a tent and are attacked, that bear likely sees you as food. Fighting back usually increases the intensity of such attacks. NPS elaborates: “Remain still until the bear leaves the area. 'I was up to my waist down a hippo's throat.' He survived, and here's his advice One very crucial thing is to make a quick ID of the kind of bear, because your strategy is going to be different. It’s started coming at you aggressively and fast. You’re now in the rarest of situations – you’ve attracted a bear’s attention. Pratt said you can usually intimidate or bluff your way out of sticky bear situations, depending on the bear species and the situation. If you’re with other people, stay together.Make yourself look as large as possible by waving your arms.Make loud noises by yelling, banging pots and pans or using an airhorn to scare bears away.New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Fish and Wildlife (where the black bear population is growing) also has some tips: They can also climb trees better than you.” With either grizzlies ( a subspecies of brown bears) or black bears, “please don’t run. If a bear starts making assertive moves in your direction, you have important decisions to make – and fast.įirst thing is: Stand your ground with bears. If a bear starts running toward you, it's important to stand your ground. This brown bear was roaming in the Bavarian Forest in Neuschonau, Germany. You can run afoul of the law as well as the bears if you get too close and end up paying a fine. Yellowstone tells you to stay at least 100 yards (300 feet or 91 meters) away Shenandoah National Park in Virginia suggests 200 feet (61 meters) for its black bears. Don’t approach it, and give it plenty of room to walk away from you. The US National Park Service site points out each bear and each encounter is different, but there are general guidelines useful in most situations.įirst of all, keep your distance if you happen upon a bear. Trying to give a bear food or approaching cute cubs are particularly terrible ways to start an encounter. The best strategy is to never get in harm’s way by enticing or provoking a wild bear. The key is being prepared – and that’s where Pratt and others in the know come in.įirst rule of ‘bear fight club’: Don’t fight It does concern me a little bit,” Pratt said. “If more people are using public lands and more people are in the mix, there’s more potential for encounters and conflict. And there’s a chapter just on bears.Ĭombine that with the fact that some national and state parks have become very popular and crowded, and you have a recipe for potential trouble. She’s also the author of “When Mountain Lions are Neighbors,” which addresses how people can co-exist with wildlife in California. She also worked in Yellowstone for several years – and once saw nine grizzlies in one day there. She is the California regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation, a job she’s had for more than 10 years. When it comes to dealing with bears, Pratt does have a thing or two on almost all the rest of us, though. “And I walked slowly away and put some distance between us, and the encounter ended fine.” “I’m not kidding, it waved its paw at me as if to say, ‘just go on your way,’ and went back to eating.” I knew that wasn’t a threatening gesture,” she told CNN Travel. It stood on its hind legs and looked at me. Her reverie came to an end when she came upon a grizzly bear eating flowers. She was once on the Old Gardiner Road Trail in Yellowstone National Park, enjoying her run in wild nature. You’re out for a hike on a glorious fall day.
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