NJ Man Killed By Bear

[Tuckahoe]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/crim...tack-1.1093395

Prayers go out to the man's family. We have discussed this many and this is an extremely rare event and it does not cause me to consider doing anything differently. Sounds like this particular bear was stalking them and that something may have been wrong with the bear.

[Pedaling Fool]

Yeah, that article leaves a lot of questions and I have a few thoughts, but probably best to wait for more information.

[Havana]

"As they ran in different directions"

[imscotty]

Wow, that seems to be some unusual bear behavior. Fearlessly going after five people! I wonder if the bear was rabid?

My condolences to the young mans family and friends.

[jersey joe]

This surprised me: "...the incident would mark the only fatal bear attack ever recorded in New Jersey."

[Offshore]

Here's more coverage from another NJ paper: http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/ind....html#comments

[AO2134]

I hope to never encounter a bear. I am perfectly fine never seeing one.

[saltysack]

Must be more to this.....


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[JohnnySnook]

Not enough info to know what really happened. I never trust the news reports. It would help to see the police reports with statements from all involved.

Where they just a group of kids that had experience with hiking or what to do when they saw a bear?
Did they have food on them?
Was food found on the dead hiker?
I'd think five healthy guys could put up a good front to try and scare the bear away.

[ki0eh]

It would be nice if the media covering this would talk about things like http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/0...a-bear-attack/ (skipping the grizzly bear part so as not to confuse New Jerseyans).

People are not born out of the womb knowing this, it has to be taught.

And, the answer can't be just "don't go in the woods, bears could eat you."

If we as Americans and hikers rely only on multiple generations of fathers passing knowledge down to children of what to do in the woods, we will wake up with our woods taken away from us once the new majority of Americans sees no value in the woods.

[Deacon]

Must be more to this.....


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Yeah, I encountered six bears this spring from Georgia to Virginia, and they all ran away at the first sight of me. This bear must have been sick in the head.

[rocketsocks]

Condolences to the family.

[Shutterbug]

Yeah, I encountered six bears this spring from Georgia to Virginia, and they all ran away at the first sight of me. This bear must have been sick in the head.

There just isn't enough information in those news reports to form an opinion. I encounter bears often in Mt. Rainier National Park. None of them have been aggressive toward me; however, a couple of years ago a bear in the Olympic Mountains killed a hunter. In that case, the bear felt threatened and was defending itself. The information in these news reports don't give enough to even speculate.

There is no mention in either of these reports that a cub was involved. The most frequent reason for a black bear attack is a mother bear protecting a cub.

[Odd Man Out]

There's a nice paper published in The Journal of Wildlife Management (link below) about all known fatal black bear attacks in North America from 1900-1909. There were no documented cases of a case of a rabid bear involved in a fatal attack. 77% of fatalities were in Alaska and Canada. Only 4 in the eastern US not including MI and MN (1 in VT, 1 in NY, 2 in TN). 88% of fatalities were from bears behaving as predators (rather than defending themselves), and 92% of the bears were males. The idea that a female bear will defend her cubs is strictly a Grizzly Bear trait. Finally, there were only 4 known cases of a bear attacking a group of three or more people, and NEVER a group of five. If these guys had stuck together and tried to scare off the bear, things may have turned out differently.

Here are a couple of relevant quotes from the paper's conclusion section (in case you don't have access to the full article).

"Communicating about black bear-inflicted human fatalities in a statistical manner can contribute to better understanding about black bear attacks, further reduce chances of serious injury or death, and promote public appreciation about black bear."

"A person should try to aggressively deter or fight off a potentially predatory bear using all possible deterrents such as bear spray, loud noises, fists, firearms, rocks, knives, or clubs. If a bear acts stressed and is showing defensive threat behaviors, then a predatory attack is unlikely, which is counterintuitive to many people because the bear is acting aggressively. However, this aggression is defensive, and if the bear is given space it will likely leave. Also, if an aggressive female with young is encountered, a predatory attack is extremely unlikely since most predatory attacks by black bear were by single male bear. While female black bear, even with cubs, seldom attack people they can be provoked into attacking if harassed by people or dogs."

Herrero, S., Higgins, A., Cardoza, J. E., Hajduk, L. I. and Smith, T. S. (2011), Fatal attacks by American black bear on people: 1900–2009. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 75: 596–603. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.72

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.72/full

[Tuckahoe]

Here's more coverage from another NJ paper: http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/ind....html#comments

Wow the derp in that comment section is just amazing. I love the "but they shouldn't have killed the bear."

[Jake2c]

Hopefully there will be some lessons learned out of this. I feel sorry for the family. As hikers we don't want to believe we can be attacked by a bear but the reality is, it's possible. Smart to take steps that will lower the odds but they will never be "0". I am a relatively new hiker but an avid diver with thousands of dives logged around the world. I have been in the water with sharks and have been snapped at once but he only got my flashlight. I still go in the water but the bottom line is the odds of a shark attack will never be “0” unless of course all sharks are removed from the environment. I view bears the same way and as with the water, I will continue to go into the woods. My bigger concern is really what ticks carry.

[rocketsocks]

Wow the derp in that comment section is just amazing. I love the "but they shouldn't have killed the bear."

yep, or that the bear was probably starving to death...Jerseys bears ain't stavin' bud, bumper crops this year.

[TREKMAN001]

First ever fatality in New Jersey! What a sad statistic. I live in Southern Jersey, in the Pine Barrens, close to the shore, and, though I have stealth camped for years out there, I have never seen a bear. Of course the woods are totally different from north to south... My thoughts go out to the family...

[The Solemates]

Yeah, I encountered six bears this spring from Georgia to Virginia, and they all ran away at the first sight of me. This bear must have been sick in the head.

I've encountered several bears in my time. Black bears in the East generally run away from you...you are correct. I've had them run away from me numerous times.

However, this is not always the case when they have lost fear of humans. One particular bear I encountered in the Smokies was clearly used to eating hiker food. He came into camp and had no fear of humans. He got into another campers' food sack at a shelter. I suspect if we would have tried to take away his meal he would have acted in defense. Another bear I encountered in New Jersey was in the dumpster of a restaurant. I walked out the back door and he looked at me with no fear and turned around and kept digging. I've also encountered grizzlies at a distance in Alaska. They were aware of my presence and had no fear either, but I was a great deal away.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Wow the derp in that comment section is just amazing. I love the "but they shouldn't have killed the bear."

I made the mistake of reading a few of the article comments. I feel dumber now.