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Sad story http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29319401

First human killed by a bear in NJ since 1852.

Never a good idea to split up in any emergency situation ...

BobP wrote:Sad story http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29319401

First human killed by a bear in NJ since 1852.

It will be interesting to see what the necropsy shows. A lot of reports are playing up the food shortage, but I don't think it's well-founded. There is a large fluctuation in the acorn crop from year to year, and it's really still a bit early for acorns. Furthermore, if the population cited is correct, it has fallen by up to 25-45% in the last few years, due largely to hunting. Therefore food competition should be way down. On the other hand, this source doesn't mention the possibility of rabies mentioned elsewhere. Although it's rare in bears, NJ has rabies in raccoons, skunks and foxes. In particular, I've noticed a huge boom in the fox population, and a lot of them look unhealthy.

On a side note, the location shown in that article is a bit off. The preserve is not quite that far west and is a tad farther north.

Bear Attack Fatality:

http://www.backpacker.com/news-and-even ... ew-jersey/

kingsnake wrote:Never a good idea to split up in any emergency situation ...

Regarding the NJ attack, splitting the group up was clearly the wrong thing to do according to the advice of national parks with high bear populations. Why they would do that is kind of strange, but maybe they panicked and just ran in different directions. And if they did indeed run, that was yet another mistake.

Bears usually make the bear-calculation that even a single human appears to be too big, and making a lot of noise, and not fearful, to be worth the trouble needed to become its next meal. That all changes when you flail your arms and run away. Something running away from you is not going to hurt you. Therefore, FOOD!

Bears that come into constant contact with humans is a serious problem, and I don't know where NJ stands on that issue. It's what worries me most about Arizona bears, more than I ever worried about Alaska bears.

skillpore wrote:Or the hiker provoked the bear in a negative manner.

I'm not sure if it's national news, but authorities are looking for two other as yet unidentified hikers who supposedly crossed paths with this group. Presumably there is something they would be able to confirm or deny. Is it possible that the two hikers fed this bear, or that someone in the student group fed it? Quite a few bear incidents in NJ (if not most) have stemmed from feeding bears. There was an infamous case in 2001 detailed here:

http://articles.philly.com/2001-07-12/n ... ld-animals

I haven't seen much more than anyone else here because I'm still in CO for another day.

In 1996, a teenage girl was savagely mauled by a bear on Mt. Lemmon. The bear was connected to a woman who used to put tubs of ice cream on her porch for the bear to eat, despite numerous demands to stop. We could all be even safer than we already are from the risk bear attacks if we, collectively, weren't just a notch less intelligent a species than we think we are.

neilends wrote:In 1996, a teenage girl was savagely mauled by a bear on Mt. Lemmon. The bear was connected to a woman who used to put tubs of ice cream on her porch for the bear to eat, despite numerous demands to stop. We could all be even safer than we already are from the risk bear attacks if we, collectively, weren't just a notch less intelligent a species than we think we are.

My daughter was there, at that camp, when it happened. (4H club had rented the Boy Scout camp). The girl who was mauled, Anna Knochel, is now a veterinarian in Portland OR, so she did okay in the long run. But at the time we wondered if she would survive or be severely crippled. I know I've mentioned this before. I heard about the ice cream being put on the porch because our pediatrician had a cabin right next door to that lady. At the time they couldn't throw the book at the ice cream lady, or even make her stop doing it, because there was no really severe law in place. The state legislature subsequently made the fines for feeding wildlife a bit stiffer.

azbackpackr wrote:

neilends wrote:In 1996, a teenage girl was savagely mauled by a bear on Mt. Lemmon. The bear was connected to a woman who used to put tubs of ice cream on her porch for the bear to eat, despite numerous demands to stop. We could all be even safer than we already are from the risk bear attacks if we, collectively, weren't just a notch less intelligent a species than we think we are.

My daughter was there, at that camp, when it happened. (4H club had rented the Boy Scout camp). The girl who was mauled, Anna Knochel, is now a veterinarian in Portland OR, so she did okay in the long run. But at the time we wondered if she would survive or be severely crippled. I know I've mentioned this before. I heard about the ice cream being put on the porch because our pediatrician had a cabin right next door to that lady. At the time they couldn't throw the book at the ice cream lady, or even make her stop doing it, because there was no really severe law in place. The state legislature subsequently made the fines for feeding wildlife a bit stiffer.

Wow. I always remembered that story and it's great to hear that Anna is living a good life. I was among the thousands of teenagers who grew up in Tucson who camped out at Mt. Lemmon, I think at that same location, for one experience or another. In my case it was my middle school's annual orientation tradition. So most Tucsonans know and remember it.

It may not have been difficult legally to obtain a civil court order forcing that idiot who insisted on feeding bears to stop. The wildlife feeding statutes they have in place now make it even easier, but that didn't mean it was impossible to stop pre-statute. The State of Arizona paid a huge settlement to Anna, but I don't know if the failure to stop the feeding was the bigger factor, or whether it was the State's knowledge of the bear in that area right on the heels of another attack on another person.

I have some friends bicycle touring across and around various places in the US. Some state will allow a bear spray and some states do not. I do not know if bear spray would have made a difference in NJ.

neilends wrote:It may not have been difficult legally to obtain a civil court order forcing that idiot who insisted on feeding bears to stop. The wildlife feeding statutes they have in place now make it even easier, but that didn't mean it was impossible to stop pre-statute. The State of Arizona paid a huge settlement to Anna, but I don't know if the failure to stop the feeding was the bigger factor, or whether it was the State's knowledge of the bear in that area right on the heels of another attack on another person.

Interesting point. I remember hearing about the lawsuit. I think they also sued the USFS, right? They knew it was a problem bear, because it had been a problem bear somewhere else, (can't remember where) and had been relocated to Mt. Lemmon! Crazy, huh?

The only reason Anna is alive is because one of the dads had a gun in his vehicle. Remember how Camp Lawton is laid out, with the parking lot at the top? And Anna's tent was way down the hill. They tried hitting and kicking the bear but it would not stop its attack on her, so he ran to his truck and got the gun and shot the bear, which then ran off.

@big_load They were warned about the bear's presence and ... went looking for it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... later.html

kingsnake wrote:@big_load They were warned about the bear's presence and ... went looking for it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... later.html

When a German hiker and I warned numerous hikers at Madera Canyon that we had spotted a bear 5 minutes ago in the exact direction they were headed, which was into an actual canyon, approximately 10 of them dismissed us (some, arrogantly) and kept going, while 2 hikers in their 50s turned around.

There is no bear expert I've ever heard say that if you know a bear is in a particular area, you should head straight to that area. Black or grizzly.