On Sep 4, 2:29 pm, Bruce Jensen wrote:
On Sep 4, 1:46 pm, y_p_w wrote:

WTF?

Tell that to the family in Utah whose 11 year old was dragged out of
their tent and killed in June by a male black bear. Male black bears
aren't known for being protective of their cubs. Some are known to
attack cubs, which could include their own young.

Yeah, but we are not at this point talking specfiically about a male
or female bear. There is a reasonable chance that the bear in
question was a female with cubs, based on other testimony. At the
very least, it was surprised.

The Utah incident above also involved some questionable human-food
handling, IIRC.

Sure. However - the attack was for a different reason than a black
bear sow defending its cubs. Sometimes it's keeping an unclean camp
or other attractant. I just disagree with Vandeman's ill-informed
blanket statement that there's only one reason why a black bear would
attack a human.

This is not a challenge, but simply an effort to learn - If you have a
reference for a male bear attacking its own offspring, I would like to
see it. My reading has suggested that males will attempt to kill
other children, but not his own.

Most of the references I've read are that a black bear male mates
within a few days, then goes off solo without ever being able to
identify its own cubs.

Black bear attacks on humans are extremely rare. However - when
attacks do happen, it's for far more reasons than simply defending
cubs. NPS rangers have told me that more often than not, a black bear
sow will run away when scared off by humans. In that case, they'll
typically come back for their cubs later. That doesn't mean caution
isn't warranted around a black bear sow with cubs, because they have
been known to attack.

To reiterate, this bear suddenly found itself confronted with two
screaming dogs and a rapidly moving cyclist. That is not what a
typical hiker would present to a bear, with or without cubs.

That could freak out a bear. I have heard of freak defensive attacks
when a bear was surprised. However - it could be a male, female, or
juvenile. Again - black bear attacks happen for more reasons than
just a sow defending cubs.

I'd be far more concerned about a grizzly bear sow defending its cubs.

No doubt, this is cause for great caution. An attack by a mother bear
is still no excuse for killing the bear. In fact, this very year, an
attack on Jim Cole up at Yellowstone by a mom bear protecting her
baby(s) in an area where people generally if not specifically move
about was treated by simply leaving the bears alone. Cole, OTOH, had
a history of pestering bears to the point of provoking violent
reactions.

NPS will typically only remove bears if they (1) have found humans to
be a reliable source of food and act on that finding, or (2) they have
killed a human and have thus probably found that people taste good.
It is likely that neither one of these things occured here.

http://www.bear.org/Black/Articles/W..._Wildlife.html

"Unlike grizzly bear mothers, black bear mothers seldom attack people
in defense of cubs. Black bear mothers typically bluff or retreat.
Researchers who routinely capture cubs by chasing them up trees have
not been attacked even when they have held the screaming cubs. The
ferocity of mother black bears is one of the biggest misconceptions
about this species."- Hide quoted text -

Maybe true, but I'd hate to test this nugget. Nevertheless, a
surprised bear is a dangerous bear. And, the bear is typically only
dangerous until after the surprise has passed.

I saw a black bear sow with cubs. It sent one cub up a tree next to
the trail, at which point I backed off on the off-chance that it
aggressively defended its young. I was certainly cautious, with a
good deal of respect that it could cause serious injury if so
inclined. It was after I reported my sighting that I heard from
rangers/naturalists/etc that black bear sows typically retreat from
their cubs when scared off. I've also heard of first-hand reports of
someone chasing off a black bear sow with young.

http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?i...cbears0jo9.jpg