REGIONAL-The mid-August, 2008, attack of an eight year-old boy by a black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park gained predictable media legs, not unlike most stories involving unusually aggressive wildlife.
First, there was the story itself, which got lots of play. Then the follow-up. Then the double-follow up built around a biologist’s conclusion the the bear “had been stalking the child for food”. Then more follow up after the necropsy, with the exciting information that one of the victim’s shoes was inside the bear’s stomach.
What normally gets lost in the race to tell the sensational tale, though, is the word “unusual.”
| Chance encounter reminds naturalist of black bear rules
WILLETS–As I was out bird watching, I had a chance encounter with a black bear. It was kind of frightening as the sound of a large something moved towards me in galloping fashion. Although it was not exactly galloping, it was clambering through the woods in an awful noisy manner. I reasoned that it had to be a black bear, not a horse, since it was coming straight down the mountain without using so much as a game trail. Branches were crunching and shrubs were swaying as I high-tailed it back to my truck for the safety that such a large hunk of metal can offer.
I made it to the truck (but did not slam the door) as a black bear the size of a meaty Great Dane appeared at the edge of the woods. Covered in thick healthy fur, this bear appeared to weigh between 125-150 pounds if not more, as I deduced the size before I might succumb to storytelling exaggeration. The bear sniffed the air and I held on to the creaky door, observing and taking in the scene from the safety of my vehicle.
Bears can tell a lot from their nose, and just as quick as it arrived it turned around and left. It lumbered back up that hill, moving out of my space, as it may have sensed danger. Once a good distance away the bear seemed to continue its cumbersome search for food in the forest. I quickly left in the truck.
Encounters like this happen in bear country. In my eyes this was a successful meeting between bear and human. I was not threatened, nor was the black bear. I did not dig for my camera or try to get close to the animal. My door was not hastily slammed to scare it away. I like to think that we sensed each other and respectfully gave needed space. Sure, my heart was pumping many beats per hour but perhaps the heart of the bear was thumping extra loud, too. I was frightened, and the bear was humbled, yet our fear was not in charge.
All of us have a good chance of sighting a black bear. We would be lucky to see one doing what it is supposed to – foraging in the woods for food. Bear behavior can however occasionally become unpredictable. In times of hunger, bears may become desperate. This is when we need to be extra careful about our human habits. Close up and secure that garbage can lid, don’t hike alone, and leave food at home if you are just going on a short day hike. Should your journey require food keep it sealed until it’s time to eat. And just in case, have a cell phone with you. It is also smart to let someone know where you are going. |
No question that young Evan Pala of Boca Raton, FL, was lucky to survive the August 11 attack near the Rainbow Falls Trail at the northern edge of the park. He suffered lacerations and puncture wounds from an 86-pound male yearling.
Evan and his father John fought the bear off together and escaped. They were airlifted to a Sevierville, TN, medical facility and released the same night.
The bear, which was aggressive toward Park Rangers when they arrived at the scene, was shot and taken to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine to determine whether rabies or another physical abnormality might have caused the attack. The bear was not found to be rabid (rabies, emphasizes the National Park Service, has never been documented in a park bear).
Says the National Park Service:
Visitor injuries by bears are uncommon in the Smokies and when they have occurred, were typically minor bites or scratches resulting from a bear trying to obtain human food. Park biologists have documented 7 minor human injuries over the past 10 years, mainly involving bears trying to get at human food and injuring a visitor in the process.
This is the first serious bear-human incident since 2000, when an attack resulted in the death of a local woman who was attacked by a 113 pound female bear and yearling cub.
In the past 108 years, at least 52 people have died by black bear attack in North America, two of them in the southeast, one in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Black Bears live all over the mountains of Western North Carolina, and are central figures in the lore of the Cherokee and later Scots-Irish settlers. Many of the descendants of these settlers still hunt bear each fall during a designated hunting season.
They are relatively common intruders in more remote communities, and are known to occasionally show up in more settled areas. When they come, they’re usually seeking garbage or pet food, and are generally skittish toward humans.
Bears, according to the Park Service, “… may be six feet in length and up to three feet high at the shoulder. During the summer months, a typical male bear weighs approximately 250 pounds while females are generally smaller and weigh less – slightly over 100 pounds. However, bears may double their weight by the fall. Bears over 600 pounds have been documented in the park. Wild bears can live 12-15 years or more. “Panhandler” bears, who have had access to human foods and garbage, have a life expectancy of only half that time.
Bears, like humans, are omnivores. Plant materials such as berries and nuts make up approximately 85% of their diet. Insects and animal carrion provide valuable sources of protein for bears.
Bears have color vision and a keen sense of smell. In addition, they are good tree climbers, can swim very well, and can run 30 miles per hour.”
The 521,086-acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park, being off-limits to hunters and developers, is one of the few remaining sanctuaries in the east for black bear. Some 1,500 bear live in the park, in all areas and at all elevations. A blogger for Backpacker Magazine points out that this is one of the highest black bear densities on earth.
Because of the curtailment of poaching and the regulation of hunting, the black bear population, which had shrunk, has rebounded. But as people continue to move into the mountains, bear habitat is destroyed, and another decline in the population is relatively certain.
Also certain is more contact between people and bears.
