10 miles outside Gatlinburg, Tenn. It was the first recorded black bear
fatality in the history of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Then, early in July, Canadian biathlete Mary Beth Miller was killed by
a black bear outside Quebec City.
After that, human-bear conflicts made news all summer:
Black bears clawed or bit four Boy Scouts in July at the Philmont Scout
Ranch in northeastern New Mexico.
In August, two backpackers were charged by a bear of undetermined species in
Glacier National Park in Montana. One was bitten on the thighs and hips.
Also in August, a Calgary, Alberta, man was mauled by a grizzly in the
Kananaskis Country of Canada’s Rockies. It was the second incident in 12
hours; those were the first attacks there in 22 years.
In September, attacks have been reported in Clam Falls, Wis.; Hoonah,
Alaska; Grand Junction, Colo.; Anchorage; McLeod Lake, British Columbia; and
Yellowstone National Park.
“Conflict is increasing all over,” said Gary Shelton, who has studied
bears for 35 years and written two books considered to be the seminal works
on bear aggression. “What’s happening is bear attacks are taking place where
they haven’t before, there’s a higher level of fatalities, and there are
more deadly attacks by black bears.”
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