Tag: bear encounter

Watch: Bear charging across snow nearly collides with skier

A skier at Heavenly Resort in South Lake Tahoe on Sunday captured footage of his near-collision with a large black bear that charged in front of him as he descended the slope.

A skier at Heavenly Resort in South Lake Tahoe on Sunday captured footage of his near-collision with a large black bear that charged in front of him as he descended the slope.

The accompanying footage originally appeared on TikTok via the user, @Tao7570, who shared the clip with ABC 10 News.

The user also shared the footage as a Facebook reel with the description: “Almost hit a bear skiing down Ridgerun [at] Heavenly. Didn’t realize it was a bear until it was too close.”

As viewers can see, the bear is intent on crossing the ski run and has to navigate through downhill skiers and snowboarders. The bear almost collides with the TikTok user, who keeps his camera phone trained on the fleeing bruin.

At no point did the bear act menacingly toward the skiers as it bounded toward and into the wilderness.

Although South Lake Tahoe is famous for its black bear population, most of the animals have denned up for the winter.

Montana hunter kills grizzly bear near hibernation site

A Montana hunter has killed a grizzly bear in self-defense near where the animal had been digging a hibernation den.

A Montana hunter shot and killed a grizzly bear in apparent self-defense Saturday as the bruin charged the hunter.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the adult female grizzly bear, which had no history of conflict with humans, “appeared to be digging a den where the encounter took place.”

Grizzly bears are foraging in advance of hibernation and the hunter apparently surprised the animal. The incident occurred near Ennis in the Gravelly Range in Madison County.

Gravelly Range in Montana

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks stated in a news release: “This time of year is when bears are active for longer periods as they prepare for hibernation.

“This period overlaps with hunting season and other fall recreation activities. Hunters should be aware that bears will remain active throughout the general [hunting] season.”

Grizzly bears are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act and can only be killed legally in cases of self-defense.

The incident is under investigation by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

–Generic grizzly bear image courtesy of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

‘Intense’ moments as grizzly bears stalk hikers in Banff

Hikers in Canada’s Banff National Park on Tuesday were stalked by grizzly bears for nearly 20 minutes in what the guide described as an “intense” experience.

Hikers in Canada’s Banff National Park on Tuesday were stalked by grizzly bears for several minutes in what the guide described as an “intense” experience.

The accompanying footage, provided to CBC News by Jess Rogers, shows what appears to be a momma grizzly with a large cub emerge onto the trail behind the hikers.

Phoebe Nicholson, the tour guide, explained in the footage: “Internally I was quite nervous, but I also felt prepared.”

As the bears followed closely behind, Nicholson urged the hikers to keep walking but remain calm as they attempted to reach Consolation Lake.

The bears followed the hikers for 15 to 20 minutes at a distance of 10 to 20 meters, Nicholson said.

Although the smaller bear ran toward the hikers a couple of times, in possible bluff-charging behavior, the bears did not attack.

Said Nicholson: “We got to Consolation Lake and we kind of just watched in awe, getting our breath back from what had just happened, which was pretty intense.”

Grizzly bears typically steer clear of groups of people on a trail, so this was unusual behavior.

Nicholson described the encounter as a learning experience, and stressed the importance of keeping bear spray ready while hiking in bear country.

Montana angler kills grizzly bear north of Yellowstone

A Montana angler shot and killed a grizzly bear Wednesday north of Yellowstone National Park in an apparent case of self-defense.

A Montana angler shot and killed a protected grizzly bear Wednesday in an apparent case of self-defense.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, two anglers surprised the adult male bear while hiking on private land along Tom Miner Creek north of Yellowstone National Park.

The bear charged both anglers in what Fish, Wildlife & Parks described as “defensive behavior” in close quarters. One angler shot and killed the bear.

The case is under investigation and further details were not provided.

The incident occurred four days after two hunters shot and killed a female grizzly bear in self-defense near the Montana town of Whitefish.

The men were scouting in advance of the fall hunting season for non-protected game when they surprised the bear. Both men opened fire and one was shot in the shoulder and required hospitalization.

The grizzly bear had a cub that ran off after the incident.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks stated in a news release that anyone venturing into bear country should make “localized noise” to alert bears and reduce the likelihood of surprise encounters.

–Generic grizzly bear image courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

Watch: Man and pet Yorkie face down intruding black bear

Video footage captured recently in Pace, Fla., shows a man and his pet Yorkie attempting to scare off a black bear that had climbed onto a fence and threatened to enter the yard.

Video footage captured recently in Pace, Fla., shows a man and his Yorkie attempting to scare off a black bear that had climbed onto a fence and threatened to enter the yard.

The thickset man is shown calling Max, the Yorkie, away from the fence. But Max remains at the base of the fence and continues to bark.

At one point the bear swipes its paw toward Max, causing him and man to temporarily back away.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ViralHog (@viralhog)

But the man continues to call his dog and clap loudly – a technique sometimes used by specialists to persuade bears to leave populated areas – and ultimately the bear climbs down the tree opposite the fence and disappears.

Was the man brave or foolish to remain so close to the bear, perhaps emboldening Max to do the same? Or did he handle the situation admirably?

Reads one of the more popular comments below the Viralhog Instagram post:

“That guy looks like he could take the bear on.”

Cyclists shout at grizzly bear during encounter; right or wrong?

A group of cyclists who encountered a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park shouted in the direction of the bear to prevent an attack.

A group of cyclists who were stopped alongside a road in Glacier National Park shouted toward a grizzly bear to ward off a possible attack. Was that smart or unwise?

In the accompanying footage, captured by Maureen Gerber and shared by KUTV 2News, the cyclists repeatedly shout “No bear!” and “Go away, bear!” Some of these demands were louder than others.

Those sharing comments beneath the KUTV Facebook post had mixed opinions, with some maintaining that it’s best to make lots of noise.

However, while it’s proper to make noise while hiking or cycling, to alert grizzly bears to your presence, experts advise against shouting or screaming during an encounter.

ALSO: Elephant charges safari bus in harrowing close encounter; video 

According to the National Park Service, once a bear has spotted you it’s best to stand your ground or slowly back away while talking calmly and slowly waving your arms to help the bear recognize you as a human.

The cyclists appear to have remained calm. But their increasingly loud “No bear!” shouts might not have been the safest reaction.

From the NPS website: “Stay calm and remember that most bears do not want to attack you; they usually just want to be left alone…. Continue to talk to the bear in low tones; this will help you stay calmer, and it won’t be threatening to the bear. A scream or sudden movement may trigger an attack.”

Stronger emphasis from the NPS:  “Do not make any loud noises or screams—the bear may think it’s the sound of a prey animal.”

The cyclists, who were grouped together and barricaded somewhat by their bikes, did not scream but their tones were not always low and, in fact, might have caused the bear to look in their direction.

Reads one of the top comments: “That bear wasn’t the least bit threatening to those people. He was just meandering by and probably wouldn’t have even looked over at them if they hadn’t been causing such a commotion.”

Glacier National Park is in Montana. The encounter occurred Monday on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

–Generic grizzly bear image courtesy of the National Park Service

Massive bear has perfect reaction to close people encounter

Footage showing a large black bear pausing behind a bush to avoid detection by people exiting a house has generated varied responses on social media.

Footage showing a large black bear pausing behind a bush to avoid detection by people exiting a house has generated varied responses on social media.

The video, sent to WFSB Channel 3 by a resident of Avon, Conn., shows the bear avoiding a potential conflict by waiting until both people rounded a corner before continuing its journey.

“What a sweet bear to wait for them to leave,” reads one of dozens of comments beneath the WFSB Tweet.

But it was a retweet by primate researcher Alicia Rich that generated the most engagement, with an introduction implying that humans could learn plenty from the bear’s behavior.

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Orcas greet swimmer face to face; ‘Best day of my life’; photos and video

“This is how most human-wildlife interactions go,” Rich tweeted. “They see us, we don’t see them, they avoid us, we go about our business. Keep that mind every time some crazy escalation incident goes viral.”

Rich’s tweet garnered thousands of likes and retweets, and inspired dozens of comments. The most popular was a basic observation: “The way that bear carefully backed away when it saw the humans should be an example to us all of what to do when encountering wildlife.”

Close behind, however, was this: “Hence the advisory to prioritize de-escalating the encounter. Everyone (even bears) just wants to go back home safe.”

More social commentary: “The bear is better at social distancing than lots of people I see out there.”

One person wondered what would have happened had the people exiting the house turned and saw the bear. Thankfully, because of the bear’s natural instincts, we’ll never know.

–Image courtesy of WFSB Channel 3

Watch: Bear gets touchy-feely with shocked jogger

A woman jogger froze when a black bear emerged on the trail in front of her in British Columbia. Video shows the bear tapping her knee.

A woman jogger descending on a trail in British Columbia suddenly froze when a black bear emerged from the bushes in front of her.

Sam Abdullah, who was ascending the popular Coquitlam Crunch trail below her, started videotaping when he saw what was happening. The Sun posted the video on YouTube.

“I think she was in shock and she just froze there,” Abdullah told CBC News of the encounter last weekend.

“If you see the video, we are doing the opposite [of what] we are supposed to do. We are coming closer to the bear. I was trying to distract the bear by yelling because we are not running away, because there was a girl there and we waited there until we knew that she was safe.”

The black bear casually walked up to the stunned runner and tapped her on the knee and then stood back.

jogger encounters bear

The bear approached her again, but she managed to slip by the bear and started running down the trail. Fortunately, the bear did not give chase.

The woman ran past Abdullah. He attempted to catch up with her to see if she was OK, Abdullah said, but “she kept on running all the way down.”

Conservation officer Murray Smith told CBC News that he couldn’t blame the woman reacting as she did but advises people who encounter a bear to back away slowly, make yourself big by putting your arms over your head and talk to the animal, telling it calmly that you’re a human.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Grizzly runs straight at hikers, who react in the worst way

“Once you back away and get out of the situation, then you can hurry away a little quicker,” he said.

Smith also said it worries him that the bear actually touched the jogger.

“It appears the bear had little or no fear of the runner,” he told CBC News. “It wasn’t like the bear was startled by the runner and reached out and contacted them. In this case, the runner stopped, and the bear approached the runner and then the bear hit the person’s leg, so it’s very concerning.”

Wildlife officials were going to attempt to trap the bear, and it’s possible it would be euthanized if caught, but they are seeking more information first.

Photo courtesy of Sam Abdullah.

Grizzly bear runs straight at hikers, who react in the worst way

A grizzly bear was heading directly for a group of unsuspecting hikers, who clearly were clueless on dealing with bear encounters, as video shows.

A grizzly bear on a trail in Glacier National Park on Sunday was heading directly for a small group of unsuspecting hikers, who clearly were clueless about how to deal with bear encounters in the wild.

Another group of hikers on a switchback above those ill-informed hikers saw what was transpiring and began warning them about the approaching bear and shouted “get off the trail,” and then the grizzly started running.

Once the grizzly started running, the shouts of warning became louder and more urgent. You can hear someone in the distance yelling to “back up, back up,” and a woman nearby says, “They shouldn’t run” before yelling to them, “Don’t run, don’t run!”

So what did they do? Dulé Krivdich, who sent the video to NBC Montana, picks up the story he told the station:

“Just then, the griz made a bluff charge and we saw people booking it like we’ve never ever seen before in our lives. But I think that it was a case of the bear not knowing the people were coming up, [and] the people had no idea. But once they did, [they] did the worse [sic] thing, they ran!”

grizzly bear encounter

Fortunately, after the bluff charge, the grizzly continued on its way, disinterested in the running hikers.

“Thank goodness that it all went well afterwards,” Krivdich told NBC Montana.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Girl, 3, tangled in kite is violently swept 100 feet into the air

Ironically, that same day, Glacier National Park posted on Facebook this warning to hikers:

“If you’re hitting the trails, there are a few other considerations to keep in mind. If you can’t see the trail ahead of you, it’s important to make your presence known by making human sounds like shouting or clapping loudly. Additionally, hiking in a group allows bears to see, hear, and smell you better, reducing your risk of a surprise encounter. If you do happen to see a bear on the trail, ensure you maintain at least 100 yards of distance and slowly back away from it. Carrying bear spray (and knowing how to use it!) is recommended on all trails in the park. You never know when you may see a bear!”

At least they did one thing correctly: hiking in a group.

Photo of generic grizzly bear courtesy of the National Park Service.