Natural History

Posted in pets that can kill you | Tagged brown bear, European brown bear | 5 Comments

5 Responses

1. on February 20, 2011 at 8:27 pm Christopher@BorderWars

   My question is, why is that guy wearing a karate outfit?

   
   
2. on February 21, 2011 at 11:16 am Lane Batot

   True, 99.9% of people in the world are NOT going to do well by a pet bear–but on watching this, I can’t help but side with the bear, and think he was perfectly reasonable and controlled in this “attack”–not “unpredictable” or “savage”, or “treacherous” as most people would think viewing this clip. First, the woman coming up unnoticed and sitting behind the bear so closely was just STUPID–I wouldn’t have done that with a dog or horse or any domestic critter! More and more urbanized people with no experience with animals have no idea how to behave around them–this is something the handler should have noted and prevented from the outset–he seemed too distracted by all the media attention…..But to suprise such an animal in such close proximity(and a complete stranger, obviously) is certainly one way to GUARANTEE a defensive reaction from an animal! And then all these other humans jump him, including his own handler! What other reaction could you expect! I was amazed how the bear still only mauled the strange people he didn’t know–never seemed to attempt to hurt his handler–seemed to completely trust him. That was quite the self-control under the circumstances! As anyone who has ever tried to seperate dogs in a fight(and been bitten accidentally by their own dog) can well attest to! The bear’s behaviour, I think, was perfectly reasonable–it’s the dumb people who need to learn something about animals before they try to hob-knob with them……

   
   
   • on February 21, 2011 at 5:59 pm retrieverman

     Totally agree, Lane.

     The main reason brown bears (which include grizzlies and European brown bears) attack is because they are startled by something and have a reason to act defensively.

     There is a really good book on bear attacks by Stephen Herrero:

     http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Their-Causes-Avoidance/dp/0941130827

     
     
3. on February 21, 2011 at 2:14 pm Pai

   Less ‘crazy bear’ and more ‘stupid humans’.

   
   
4. on February 22, 2011 at 9:05 am Lane Batot

   I’ve read that book–excellent. As for the handler wearing a Karate outfit, I’m wondering if he had an act where he and the bear sparred together. “Wrasslin” Bears” have been common acts in the past in Europe and America–perhaps this was a “Martial Arts bear”? Just a guess…..

   
   

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