black bear – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Watch: Man unlocking dumpster gets the shock of his life

A school principal in West Virginia was unlocking a dumpster outside the school when the lid suddenly popped open like a Jack in the Box.

An elementary principal in West Virginia was unlocking a dumpster outside the school when the lid suddenly popped open like a Jack in the Box and out came a black bear.

The incident occurred last week at Zela Elementary School in Summersville where James Marsh is principal.

“You throw stuff in a dumpster,” Marsh told WSAZ. “Things go in it, but you just don’t expect anything that big to come out of it.”

A security camera captured video of the close encounter, and the Nicholas County Board of Education posted the footage on its Facebook page.

The bear made a quick exit to the right as the stunned principal sprinted off in the opposite direction. He is later seen speaking with a woman who emerged from a side door just as the encounter was unfolding.

Marsh is seen trying to catch his breath.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Rare sighting of a black wolf caught on a trail camera

“I have not been that close to [a bear], and I doubt that many people have,” Marsh told WSAZ. “I didn’t even open the lid. It just popped out of there like a Jack in the Box. It let out a pretty loud growl or roar actually, and that was about the most intimidating thing of the whole event.”

Ironically, the Department of Natural Resources had given the school the lock for the dumpster the week before after a bear had gotten into it one night.

Bear kills dog in Jasper National Park, a warning for pet owners

The mauling of a dog by a bear Saturday in Canada’s Jasper National Park underscores the risk associated with bringing pets into the wilderness.

The fatal mauling of a dog by a bear Saturday in Canada’s Jasper National Park underscores the risk associated with bringing pets into the wilderness.

Parks Canada, which manages the country’s national parks, confirmed Monday that a black bear attacked and killed one of two dogs being walked by visitors on the Wabasso Lake Trail.

Jasper National Park, in Alberta, described the incident in a news release: “They were approached at close range by a black bear and the bear attacked one of the dogs. The hikers then deployed bear spray in an effort to deter the bear.”

Parks Canada did not mention the type of dog or whether its was illegally allowed off-leash. But Jasper National Park stated: “This is a sad reminder that all pets should be kept under control and on-leash at all times within a national park.”

A team of human-wildlife confrontation experts responded to the incident, which remains under investigation. The area is closed while experts try to locate the bear involved in the attack.

–Generic black bear image courtesy of Alan D. Wilson

Black bear breaks into nature center, kills beloved deer

A nature center in Asheville, N.C., has announced the passing of two beloved white-tailed deer after a wild black bear broke into their enclosure.

“With heavy hearts, the WNC Nature Center is sad to report the loss of Becca and Curly, our two white-tailed deer, last week,” the facility stated on Facebook. “They were found in the early morning, and though there are still some unanswered questions, it would appear that a wild black bear entered their exhibit and either directly or indirectly caused their passing.”

Becca, who was brought to the facility as a fawn in 2013, was featured in the Oscar-winning movie, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

Curly was born in 2012 and kept illegally as a pet before joining Becca at the center in 2020.

Chris Gentile, director of the WNC Nature Center, stated in a news release:

“This was an unfortunate accident that has never before occurred within our animal collection. While it’s a rare occurrence for something like this to happen, our Animal Care and Maintenance Teams have taken additional measures to dissuade and deter wild animals from entering our animal exhibits.”

Gentile told News 13 that the facility has since bolstered perimeter and exhibit fencing, and completed other improvements designed to prevent future intrusions by bears from the surrounding wilderness.

Gentile added: “Obviously we’re talking about two animals that have been with us for a while. I think the best thing to say right now is, our team is healing from this. It’s a very sad day for us.”

For her part in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Becca was trained to stand in front of a bluescreen for footage edited into a touching scene with co-star Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes. (The scene is posted above.)

Poacher kills first black bear documented at NY wildlife refuge

A hunter has illegally killed what was described as “likely” the first black bear documented at New York’s Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

A hunter has illegally killed what was “likely” the first black bear documented at New York’s Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

The hunter was located after Department of Environmental Conservation officers responded to a Nov. 18 report that a K-9 unit had tracked a bear that had been shot earlier in the day.

The K-9 unit had been part of a nighttime spotlighting detail involving officers trying to catch hunters illegally using lights to locate and shoot deer.

ALSO: Watch coyote’s ‘animated response’ after detecting trail camera

The DEC reported that after an investigation, officers interviewed the hunter at his home and he confessed to shooting the bear with a compound bow.

The refuge does not allow bear hunting and the hunter failed to turn in a harvest report that helps the state keep track of legal bear kills.

The man was cited and ordered to appear in federal court on charges related to the illegal harvest of a bear on a national wildlife refuge.

–Image showing officers with the poached bear is courtesy of the DEC

Watch: Bear smells worst kind of trouble on tree, reacts accordingly

Video footage captured in Canada’s Yukon Territory shows a black bear hightailing it to safety after smelling porcupine scent on a tree.

After a bear has experienced the sting of porcupine quills, it’s understandable that the mere scent of a porcupine would signal a flight response.

The accompanying trail-cam footage, featured Sunday by Yukon Wildlife Cams, shows a black bear exhibiting remarkable speed and agility after sniffing a tree that had presumably been claimed by porcupines.

David Troup, who runs Yukon Wildlife Cams, explained Sunday via Facebook:

“The highly acute sense of smell that bears possess provides them with information to do such things as find food and in this case, avoid potential danger. The tree of interest was scent marked many times by porcupines over the summer, and this wet bear’s fight or flight instinct seemingly kicked into gear.”

One comment reads, “Must’ve had quills before.”

ALSO: Great white sharks now a tourist attraction at San Diego beach

Another: “I wish my dogs would react the same.”

And this: “Always amazes me how fast these large bears can move.”

Troup’s cameras are stationed on remote wilderness trails and he shares footage sporadically, sometimes weeks later. The bear footage was captured in August.

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Oregon launches probe after two bears are found dead in trees

Oregon is seeking help from the public in locating the person(s) responsible for shooting a bear and leaving the animal to waste.

Oregon is seeking help from the public in locating the person(s) responsible for shooting a black bear and leaving the animal to waste.

The Oregon State Police Wildlife Division explained via news release that on Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. Troopers responded to a tip about a dead bear in a tree with an arrow in its flesh.

They found that the bear had also been shot two times with a gun. The Jackson County Fire Department assisted in retrieving the carcass.

Jackson County Fire Department was called to retrieve the bear carcass

The incident occurred near Anderson Creek Road, outside of Talent.

ALSO: In San Diego, a dead great white shark and a plea to anglers

On October 31, a second bear was found dead in a tree in the same area. Its body was decomposed but OSP believes the animal’s death was “human-caused.”

Both incidents are under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oregon State Police Dispatch at 1-800-452-7888, text *OSP (*677), or email at TIP@osp.oregon.gov. Case number is SP22291483.

–Top image is generic, courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Black bear attacks family on trail, critically injuring two women

A family on a sunset hike Monday in British Columbia, Canada, fell under vicious attack by a black bear, leaving two of the four family members critically injured

A family on a sunset hike Monday in British Columbia, Canada, was run down by a black bear that critically injured two of the four family members.

Both victims were women, aged 30 and 48, the according to the CBC.

A third family member, a teenage boy, suffered less serious injuries after being swatted by the bear, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.

The attack, which is under investigation, occurred on the Wolverine Trail near Dawson Creek.

“They turned to run and the bear chased after them,” the COS explained. “One woman was attacked by the bear, while another woman and teenage boy were also injured trying to help.”

The COS and Royal Canadian Mountain Police responded to the attack site and found the bear guarding the two female victims. RCMP shot and killed the bear, an adult male.

“No additional bears were located during a sweep of the area,” the COS stated, adding that a necropsy will be conducted on the bear.

All three victims were hospitalized. The trail and surrounding area were closed to the public after the incident.

Watch: Yellowstone wolves chase nosy bear up a tree

A tour company that operates in Yellowstone National Park has shared footage showing two male wolves chasing a black bear up a tree.

A tour company that operates in Yellowstone National Park has shared footage showing two wolves chasing a bear up a tree.

“Black bear wanders into the wrong neighborhood,” Yellowstone Wolf Tracker wrote this week on Instagram.

The footage, captured by a Wolf Tracker guide, shows the bear leaping onto the tree and scrambling several feet up to escape the older male wolves. (If footage doesn’t appear below, click here.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg5Nqqgvdfg/

If viewers swipe to the the second clip they’ll see one of the wolves baring its teeth.

ALSO: Humpback whale picks up unintended passenger; photos

A commenter asked if the bear or wolves were hurt during the confrontation and Wolf Tracker responded: “All okay! Just some friendly disagreements.”

The disagreement began when the bear approached the wolves’ freshly killed bison. “They chased and harassed this bear up the same tree for close to half an hour!” Wolf Tracker wrote.

The wolves belong to the Junction Butte Pack, which roams the park’s northern range.

–Black bear image is generic, courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Idaho town on alert after rare grizzly bear sighting

Idaho is asking hunters and other backcountry users to exercise caution near the town of Salmon after a rare grizzly bear sighting.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game said in a news release that a bear photographed by a motion-sensor camera on May 14 has been identified as a grizzly bear.

Grizzly bears in Idaho are found mostly in northern Panhandle area and inside or near Yellowstone National Park in eastern Idaho. Salmon is in east-central Idaho, 170 miles from Yellowstone.

The bear was photographed in the North Fork area outside of Salmon.

ALSO: Wild horses chased by grizzly bear run for their lives; video

The last known grizzly bear sighting in the area was in 2020, involving a young male grizzly.

Idaho’s spring black bear hunting season is underway and hunters near Salmon “should not assume any bear they see is a black bear,” the IDFG stated, cautioning that grizzly bears are a federally protected species.

It’s not known if the grizzly bear is still in the area, but all backcountry users are asked to carry bear spray.

The IDFG explained that young male grizzly bears sometimes roam extensively, venturing into areas where people are not accustomed to seeing them.

“These young male bears typically wander through an area, but do not remain there,” the agency stated.

–Grizzly bear image courtesy of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Watch: Bear executes perfect takedown in clash with rival

A large black Bear is caught on video executing a perfect takedown in a clash with a rival bruin.

In martial arts, a takedown involves catching an opponent off-balance and swiftly bringing that person to the ground. Ideally, the takedown artist ends up on top in an advantageous position.

Apparently, this technique also comes in handy in a bear brawl.

The accompanying footage, captured Monday in rural Tennessee, shows a large black bear swiftly executing the takedown beginning at 4 seconds and maintaining its advantage for the remainder of the fight.

The battle lasts nearly 40 seconds before the vanquished bear regains its footing and runs off, seemingly uninjured.

ALSO: Yellowstone bison has no patience for law-breaking tourist

The footage was captured near Ely’s Mill by guests Billie Jo and Micah Campbell. It was shared Wednesday by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The TWRA stated on Facebook:

“While it’s a little bit early for bears to engage in battle for dominance during breeding season, we believe it may have been a dispute over a food source considering the size of both animals.”