Case Study: Bear Attacks

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A park ranger and I skinned the bear and examined it for clues to its unusual behaviour, and this behaviour was not normal as by far most grizzlies live in wilderness areas and do their best to stay away from people. In his fine book, Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, Steve (who was with us during the skinning) provided the results of our examination. Steve sent me one of the bear’s canines for a souvenir and a premolar for ageing (we could have used an incisor as that tooth has a larger cementum pad thus providing clearer annuli); [just a note of interest; using the premolar, grizzlies are much harder to age than black bears; potentially related to a somewhat shorter period of hibernation or differences in diet]. I aged the bear; the 10-year-old male (plus or minus one year) was in excellent condition with four inches of fat along the back and over the rump. But, this magnificent bear had become habituated to garbage from a small-fenced holding area either by climbing the fence as the black bears were doing or
This has become an annual chore, especially in provincial/territorial and state regions and national parks and it is big business too. Many jurisdictions, including Alberta, have “Bear Smart” programs; these are intended to educate citizens about bears and protect people from bears and also protect the bears. In modern times, more and more wildlife agencies are moving problem black bears with less frequency because the bears may return and/or interfere in another bear’s territory (this is one of the reasons I stated back in the ‘70s for not moving all problem black bears and it was scoffed at, at the time). Some agencies now simply kill problem black bears after the first offence. The province of British Columbia has recently (2016) announced that they will bring to an end the relocation (translocation) of conflict

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