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Old 10-16-2012, 12:19 AM
 
Location: Palmer
2,519 posts, read 7,031,543 times
Reputation: 1395

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Bear mauling victim found on Chichagof Island | State News | ADN.com
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Old 10-16-2012, 12:51 AM
 
Location: Interior alaska
6,381 posts, read 14,564,539 times
Reputation: 3520
Well that is sad!
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Old 10-16-2012, 07:08 AM
 
Location: Dangling from a mooses antlers
7,308 posts, read 14,686,730 times
Reputation: 6238
That's scary sad.
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Old 10-16-2012, 07:31 AM
 
Location: USA
73 posts, read 151,066 times
Reputation: 32
Crazy , how do people live up there?!
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Old 10-16-2012, 07:42 AM
 
Location: Wasilla, Alaska
17,823 posts, read 23,446,315 times
Reputation: 6541
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpideySwag View Post
Crazy , how do people live up there?!
Carefully.
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Old 10-16-2012, 12:30 PM
 
Location: Oregon
178 posts, read 227,795 times
Reputation: 83
Wouldn't any hungry bear kill a human? Or possibly protect their cubs? I just didn't understand why they would try to single out one bear to kill. Like the other bears are gonna learn not to eat people or something?

I know I am not the brightest bulb on the string and besides that, if a bear ate a loved one of mine I would want to hunt he/she down and kill them for sure.

I also wonder why the guy didn't have some sort of communication device to call for help. One reason I am scared to come to Alaska is my fear of being eatin alive by a bear. Ever since I saw that darn movie "The Edge" and before that movie was "Legends of the Fall"

Anyway, the article was heartbreaking, just some guy trying to do his job denise
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Old 10-16-2012, 01:17 PM
 
26,639 posts, read 36,701,628 times
Reputation: 29906
Brown bears in Alaska don't kill humans for food; food is too plentiful most of the time. Most bear attacks happen because the animal has been startled. Polar bears are the only ones that actively hunt humans.

It looks like this guy was just on the trail at the wrong time and startled the mother bear.

Quote:
Like the other bears are gonna learn not to eat people or something?
Same principle as putting down a livestock-killing dog.
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Old 10-16-2012, 01:35 PM
 
Location: Wasilla, Alaska
17,823 posts, read 23,446,315 times
Reputation: 6541
Quote:
Originally Posted by nwcountry View Post
Wouldn't any hungry bear kill a human? Or possibly protect their cubs? I just didn't understand why they would try to single out one bear to kill. Like the other bears are gonna learn not to eat people or something?

I know I am not the brightest bulb on the string and besides that, if a bear ate a loved one of mine I would want to hunt he/she down and kill them for sure.

I also wonder why the guy didn't have some sort of communication device to call for help. One reason I am scared to come to Alaska is my fear of being eatin alive by a bear. Ever since I saw that darn movie "The Edge" and before that movie was "Legends of the Fall"

Anyway, the article was heartbreaking, just some guy trying to do his job denise
I am opposed to killing any critter for what comes naturally. As Metlakatla correctly pointed out, bears do not normally kill humans for food. Bear attacks against humans are almost always the result of surprising the bear, or causing the bear (or her cubs) to feel threatened.

We have no idea what happened after Mr. Puerta landed his boat on the beach of Chichagof Island. It could have been his fault, the bear's fault, or nobody's fault that he ended up dead. I see no useful purpose in killing a bear at random just to placate someone's need for vengence.

If a bear ever kills and eats me, I do not want it killed. Hell, some may even reward the bear.
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Old 10-16-2012, 01:38 PM
 
Location: Palmer
2,519 posts, read 7,031,543 times
Reputation: 1395
Quote:
Originally Posted by nwcountry View Post
Wouldn't any hungry bear kill a human? Or possibly protect their cubs? I just didn't understand why they would try to single out one bear to kill. Like the other bears are gonna learn not to eat people or something?

I know I am not the brightest bulb on the string and besides that, if a bear ate a loved one of mine I would want to hunt he/she down and kill them for sure.

I also wonder why the guy didn't have some sort of communication device to call for help. One reason I am scared to come to Alaska is my fear of being eatin alive by a bear. Ever since I saw that darn movie "The Edge" and before that movie was "Legends of the Fall"

Anyway, the article was heartbreaking, just some guy trying to do his job denise
I talked to a biologist in Palmer studying bears. According to him, (and I believe him), not only do most bears not kill humans. Most bears don't even kill moose.

There is a huge problem with bear predation in some areas to the extent the the vast majority of moose calves that are born are killed by bears within a few months. Sometimes it's over 90%. But the vast majority of these kills are by a minority of bears. A few bears have learned that moose calves are easy prey and they prey on them every year. The sows pass it on to their cubs.

He is trying to identify the particular bears and find a way to take them out without killing the rest of the bears. Interesting job, kind of like csi for bears. He uses hair samples, fluid samples etc.
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Old 10-16-2012, 01:56 PM
 
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
6,288 posts, read 11,776,221 times
Reputation: 3369
Quote:
Originally Posted by Metlakatla View Post
Brown bears in Alaska don't kill humans for food; food is too plentiful most of the time. Most bear attacks happen because the animal has been startled. Polar bears are the only ones that actively hunt humans.
According to Doug Peacock, author of Grizzly Years, grizzlies do actively hunt humans.
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