Report on bear attack near Yellowstone-no clear reason, lightweight mainly vegan bear eats person

[uppityperson]

It's a pdf, sorry. Off to read it.
http://www.yellowstoneinsider.com/images/sodabuttecampgroundattacksinvestigationteamreport.pdf

All bears at low end of normal weights, mother had large parasite load, mother had eaten almost exclusively plants for 2 yrs rather than mixture of plant/meat as typical. 92% grizzly bears in yellowstone consume more meat than this bear. Slight increase in meat intake in bears last few weeks but still minimal. Mother ate few whitebark pine seeds although they was a good crop where she lived. She consumed little or no human related foods for the last 2 yrs (garbage, dog food). She ate mostly low caloric foods while nursing 3 cubs. Mom 10-15 yrs old.

She first bit through a tent with 2 people and a dog (bit leg). She next bit through a tent with 1 person (bit arm). 3rd attack was on a solo camper. All 3 she bit through tent and/or screen. It is uncertain if cubs participated in attack but all of them consumed the last victim.

No improper food storage at camps or bear problems in 2010 in the area except for a false charge by a mom with cubs 6 miles away. There were bears in evidence in the area before the attacks, bear tracks on dumpsters and a photo of another bear was taken recently. This bear exhibited minimal habituation to humans as was rarely seen or reported.

Culvert traps were baited with meat, one mom was caught in was closest to campsite of eaten victim and the entrance was covered with a rainfly the mom went through.

Maps, photos of sites and a lot of extra stuff in pdf

Final analysis, no clear explanation why this attack took place.

[uppityperson]

1. kick as I added info in OP

[liberal N proud]

2. The attacks were outside of Yellowstone National Park

I miss Yellowstone, we have not been there for 11 years where we were making the trip every other year. It is such a long drive for us from here now that we cannot do it in one week.

I remember the last trip out there in 99, that we saw so many bears, it was awesome as previous trips were not that fruitful in the bear hunt. Hunting with our cameras only of course.

[leftyclimber]

3. Thanks for staying on this, UP.

I haven't read the appendices but the body of the report is fascinating.

I'm impressed by how quickly this interagency research team got this information out to the public. Usually a project like this takes forever. Sounds like they've got a lot more questions than answers, but the future research that comes out of these questions should be worth following.

[uppityperson]

4. You are welcome and indeed there are lots of questions.

Notice I didn't write anything about vegan vs omnivore diet? Hmmmm, maybe time to start a flame war on that? Naw, not worth it.

It would've been nice to get a direct causation, but looks like lots of questions arising from this.

[LWolf]

5. This raises a couple of questions:

1. Are there usually clear explanations of why bear attacks take place? Or are attacks often unexplained?

*The most common cause of bear attacks offered seems to be desensitization; habituation to humans. I didn't find anything about the frequency of unexplained attacks.


2. I noticed that some of the statistics used were for Black Bears, not Grizzlies. I wondered why. Are there simply not enough statistics about grizzlies? A higher population of black bears leads to more available data? ARE there higher populations of black bears, or is than an assumption on my part?

*There ARE more black bears than grizzlies, and therefore, more black bear attacks. More black bear attacks result in minor injuries; more grizzly attacks result in major injury.

I don't know why the report used data black bears, rather than grizzlies.


3. Can statistics about black bears be reliably applied to grizzlies?

[uppityperson]

6. From what I've read, they are different, like lions/tigers are different in general

I didn't read all the bits at the end, am tired and sick and not up to that. Not sure why they used black bear data, not sure if there was an explanation in the appendixes as to why.

I think there are more black bears than grizzlies.

From what I've read over the yrs, in general blacks and grizzlies have, in general, different temperaments, act differently and have different outcomes when human/bear interaction happens.

Not sure either if stats should be applied across species barriers, will have to read the whole report through later when feel better. Thanks for noticing that and the questions.


I come from a background of camping as a child in bear country, living as an adult in AK bear country, biology education and interest.

[LWolf]

10. I just like bears, lol.

So the report interested me, and those are the questions that it raised for me.

I haven't camped much in bear country; only in CA, where grizzlies have been extinct outside zoos for almost a century, despite sporting the "Bear Flag."

[Generic Other]

7. So does this suggest the mother was unwell?

I suppose the increase in the number of bears in the area has an impact on available food sources. Makes sense. Guess she was angry. We humans have encroached on her habitat to a level she cannot survive easily. She has lost her temper about it.

[uppityperson]

8. They don't go that far. She had parasites, was underweight, wasn't eating

what was typical of other grizzlies, relying mostly on veg not meat.

The report says there was plenty of food and she wasn't eating it (seeds from tree that have higher calories than plants). Not sure why she didn't eat that food.

I think it wasn't losing her temper at humans but finally deciding she needed some meat and there was meat just laying there, easily accessible.

[Yo_Mama]

9. ANGRY?

No, it would seem that she was hungry.

Bears have to fatten up before hibernating, and her time was running out. She was just trying to survive. According to the study, she hadn't had much or any contact with human food sources, so it seems unlikely that encroachment caused this.

The normal way that animal populations work (without the predator feedback system) is that populations expand during the good times to their maximum or just above maximum limit, and then there is ferocious competition for food and territory when conditions worsen a bit. Nature isn't naturally balanced. Bears will attack and kill other bears and cubs. She had three cubs and may have been pushed out of her normal territory.

Bears normally do eat quite a bit of meat. Seeds and insects are other very rich nutritional resources. The observation that the mother bear didn't apparently know about or didn't like one of the high-energy food sources in the area might explain why she attacked while other bears didn't.

Hungry bears will attack just about anything they think they can take. Just to add some humor, here's a claim by a NJ man that he was mugged by a black bear who wanted his hoagie:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529888,00.html

And here's a NJ bear thread from 2005. If I remember correctly, it had been a hard winter and there were warnings about hungry bears:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/njgard/msg0613580920210.html

[uppityperson]

11. woman in Juneau yrs back went for a jog and got mugged by a bear who wanted her backpack

turns out she had taken a snack along. She'd put a block of spam into a baggie into her daypack to lessen the weight. She was so embarrassed she didn't tell anyone for a couple days and got in a bunch of trouble for that. They closed that trail for a month so the bear didn't learn people=food.

Edited to add, I very much like bears, they are very interesting beings.

[Yo_Mama]

12. Bears are pretty smart

My guess is that the bear involved will always be sniffing for spam from now on.

The woman wasn't very smart. Boy, oh, boy, that's asking for it.

[uppityperson]

13. she said she was jogging along, all of a sudden everything in the woods went quiet

and then wham she was on her face. When she got up, her daypack was torn off and missing. She was stupid and even stupider didn't report it for a couple days due to embarrassment and worrying she'd get into trouble. Well, duh. Let's seem let's leave open this trail and hope nothing else happens? Nothing else did but she got a heavy fine for not reporting it.

[Generic Other]

37. I figured since she didn't actually eat anyone she was just pissed

I am of course dumb enough to carry trailnuts and beef jerky in a baggie on a hike!! Guess I better wise up!

[uppityperson]

40. The bears I talk about in OP DID eat someone.

The fool who carried spam in a bag didn't get eaten,just knocked down. But mama bear and her 3 yearlings did eat the last person they attacked.

[Generic Other]

42. Oh I didn't know ... I thought she simply attacked and bit them

Very terrifying. Will give me nightmares camping!

[uppityperson]

45. she attacked/bit 2, third one dragged off and they ate

My mother was terrified of bears and passed it on to us kids that there was a bear...somewhere...with each of our names written across its teeth. We went to varied National Parks in the Rockies, liked to camp in the Ntl Forest sites but did a couple times in the popular places. Were in Yellowstone when The Night of The Grizzly happened in Glacier, lost a younger sib for a bit (turns out had wandered down a bear trail in the woods), had bears in the campground at night, so we camped a bit further out later.

Moving to an area that had "only black bears" helped me get over my OMGBEAR phobia and living in rural AK in the midst of a 20 yr old clearcut that was overgrown with alders and blueberries and bears gave me a great appreciation for how cool they are.

I startled a mama bear once who shook bushes and yelled at me, I was walking the other way apologizing before I could even think. They were all over, seen and unseen.

A few yrs back went camping in Banff with UPjr and, pulling into the campground were told "keep your food in your car because there's a bear around" to which 8 yr old Jr rolled eyes and said "great". I didn't sleep well that night, what with a habituated brown bear and my kid in the same place.

Most bears are fairly predictable, but there are the extremes and this one is at the outskirts of the bell curves for diet and weight and health. I don't know if they'll ever come up with why she did this, don't know if it was a preventable thing or just one of those things.

Of course, you are in more danger of dying in a car accident on the way to the wilderness, but we are used to that and feel some control over it. I think the illusion of control is what makes incidents like this (and mass shootings, and airplane crashes) so scary.

[slampoet]

27. Sounds to me like they are saying so without using unscientific language.

[MoonRiver]

14. Humans encroaching on wildlife territories = disaster for both. eom

[uppityperson]

15. What? Humans should stay in cities where there is "no" wildlife?

Humans should only camp in old established campgrounds? (they were)

You are more likely to die from most anything else than being eaten by a bear in an incident like this. Humans driving cars=disaster is more like it.

Many many many humans are in non-cities and for most of them it is not a disaster.

[MoonRiver]

16. You move into their territories, you take the chance they will do what bears do.

Just sayin'.

[uppityperson]

18. You do realize that this bear acted very abnormally, right? Guess that guy deserved to be eaten?

Are you seriously saying that man deserved to be eaten for camping in an old established campground that bears lived around?

You do realize that all the experts agree this bear acted very abnormally, right?

[MoonRiver]

20. Seems to me the bear was hungry.

Food was nearby in the form of humans. Maybe, this allegedly vegan bear needed some serious protein for herself and her cubs. Who knows?? Bears DO attack humans you know. This is not an unprecedented event.

[uppityperson]

21. That is what the report says, she wasn't eating the available food, seeds, meat

she ate mostly vegetation and was at the lower level of weights. Of course bears DO attack humans. However, this bear was acting abnormally by her diet and by attacking/eating people in tents without being habituated or injured or startled or defending a kill or defending her cubs.

"You move into their territories, you take the chance they will do what bears do." seems to be placing the blame on the people who were attacked. I hope that is not what you meant to do.

[MoonRiver]

22. I do think we need to be careful about protecting, and not invading,

animal habitats. This bear may have been ill, but all animals become stressed out when their habitats are diminished. I am an animal rights advocate so you might not like my positions.

[uppityperson]

23. They are much better about protecting bears than in the 60's.

This was not anyone "invading animal habitats" but people camping, sleeping in an older long time established campground. Even if it were someone hiking in the backwoods, would they still deserve to be eaten?

Why would I not like your positions because you are an animal rights advocate? Unless you truly believe people deserve to be killed and eaten because they are not in a large city?

[MoonRiver]

24. Why are you implying that I think anyone "deserves" to be eaten by a bear?

This is becoming a ridiculous conversation. For the record I do not believe that ANYBODY deserves to be eaten by a wild animal. Stuff happens when you go into their habitats, that's all.

[uppityperson]

25. Thank you for clarifying. People here have said that and I took your post of...

"You move into their territories, you take the chance they will do what bears do." as saying that. My apologies if that is not what you meant.

[MoonRiver]

26. No problem!

:hi:

[uppityperson]

29. When I was a kid, my folks were appalled @ how bears were treated in Yellowstone and Glacier Parks

We visited to see the geological sites but camped outside the parks, like in this campground. We were all glad when the Parks people finally figured out that they needed to change how they dealt with bears (no open garbage dumps, stopping people from approaching bears) as far as letting them be wild and not habituated. Moved to AK and lived in interior and SE (both in town and in the bush) and it was very interesting living with bears and seeing how they were treated.

"Sport" hunting of bears is, in my opinion, very very very wrong and I don't think it should be legal. Some subsistence people I can see hunting bears if it is for food, but even that I don't condone. Deer, elk, fish are all better than bears.

Bears are very interesting beings and, like people and other animals, there are the fundamentalists/teabaggers/extremists.

I was glad they published this report though it does lead to many more questions than answers, questions we probably will never know. Even if mama bear were alive, difficult to get her to say why she was like she was. Sad situation all the way around.

[MoonRiver]

31. I agree with everything you said,

and it is obvious you have had a lot more direct experience with bears than I have. There is a very interesting book about a daredevil bear lover. The book is: Into the Wild. The book's hero so totally loved and adored bears that he wanted to live with them and be their friend. The sad ending is that one of them eventually ate him and his girlfriend. I'm glad Yellowstone is improving conditions for the bears.

[uppityperson]

33. Timothy Treadwell was a fool and treated bears very wrongly.

Bears are bears. They aren't people. They aren't your friend. They are themselves. The sad ending is his girlfriend got killed/eaten and a bear got killed for it. I do not know how many other bears he endangered by his actions, by habituating them to people.

Anthropomorphizing animals is a poor thing for them and for people. Treadwell, while not deserving of being killed and eaten, did more harm than good.

[MoonRiver]

36. Yeah, when I read the book I thought, this is a total wacko.

Still I felt sorry for him and especially his girlfriend. Nobody should go that way, although whalers think it's an appropriate end for their incredibly sentient and magnificent victims. But, I digress.

[likesmountains 52]

38. Into The Wild is not about Timothy Treadwell...wrong book. The Treadwell

book that you're thinking of is either Grizzly Man or The Grizzly Maze.

[uppityperson]

39. Without looking it up, is Into the Wild about that young man who got himself stuck in the winter in

a van and died? He was going to do a "back to the earth, back to nature" survival thing and totally blew it re reality?

Off to look it up. Yup, and another woman died there recently. Good grief people, Nature isn't Disneyland lalalalala, lots of food and bunnie

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIESaTJKHnnM5wPMHc1MO-B70yTQD9HLDE481s
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/voices/medred/6443-into-the-wild-fantasy-claims-another-victim-

[Schema Thing]

17. Psychosis including an eating disorder

[uppityperson]

19. Why she didn't eat the available food is a good question.

sad thing all the way around

[Yo_Mama]

46. According to the report she had inflammation of the lower intestines

Maybe she couldn't eat the white pine seeds because they gave her a stomach ache.

I know that's speculative, but it is possible. A bear not eating seeds is a rare, rare thing.

[likesmountains 52]

28. Very interesting, thank you.

[bvar22]

30. Bulletin:

Hungry, injured, sick, or JPC (just plain crazy) bears WILL eat Human Beings.
It has been that way for a long time.
It doesn't matter how smart or enlightened you are.
When you are in Bear Country, you are NOT the top of the food chain.
Behave accordingly.

[uppityperson]

32. How did this man not behave accordingly?

All I can see from the report is bear prints were on garbage dumpsters and on food containers. How did the man who was eaten or the other 2 people who were attacked not behave accordingly?

[flvegan]

34. Eventually, we vegans WILL try to eat you folks.

We'll plunder yer villages and eat yer wimmin!!

:rofl:

[uppityperson]

35. See? TOLD YOU SO!!!

After I added that to the subject line, it got a lot more looks. I am glad you found it amusing as it was meant that way (though also in line with the autopsy report).

Me wimmin!!! Oh noes!!!

[petronius]

41. Interesting - thank you for posting it. The isotope discussion was particularly

fascinating; I'd never heard of those techniques before (although I'm familiar with some isotope methods in climatology and archaeology). It sounds like a very interesting application.

I'm a bit morbidly curious about Mr. Freele's behavior (and the subsequent state of their marriage) - staying in your tent while your wife is bleeding from a bear attack sounds like a do-not-do sort of thing to me...

[AngryAmish]

43. Does this mean Vegans crave human flesh?

Are they insatiable killing machines? ANd how do we control them?

[scheming daemons]

44. Because even vegan bears realize..... meat is yummy

[Iggo]

47. Vegan bears?

:spray:

[uppityperson]

48. glad you appreciate my attempt at humor. I do wonder why she ate so little meat

for the last 2 yrs until she did this. I thought of posting "vegan snaps! kills and eats a person!" but then decided it might be too inflammatory.