Bears are lumbering giants and are best known for either being cute furry animals or unforgiving deadly predators. Obviously, like any other wild animals, bears found in the wild are very dangerous.
Do not trust circus bears or zoo bears for one bit. While they may have been calm in those situations even in the presence of humans, they are the exceptions and not the rule. In fact, those bears may still have their primal animal instincts and have been known to attack or even kill their human handlers.
But let’s break down the facts a bit. An encounter with any wild animal is almost always dangerous, even if it is a herbivore. So, how dangerous are bears to humans?
Where bears appear
If you live in and hang around the city, you probably don’t have to worry about encountering a grizzly giant furry creature just randomly roaming about. This doesn’t mean it isn’t impossible though, as there have been reports of bears found randomly wandering in urban areas, likely passing through or looking for food.
This is because bears have a very long territory range, and their territory overlapping with human settlements is not uncommon. For instance, a female black bear will have a territory range of between 2-6 miles, while a male black bear can have a range of a whopping 126 miles!
The chance of a bear encounter increases the deeper into the countryside you find yourselves in. Free from the nuisance of human-developed cities and landscapes, bears are able to romp around nature as they desire. It is no surprise then, that the majority of encounters that people have with a bear occur during camping or hiking in destinations that have less people and human development overall.
The dangers bears present to humans
Generally speaking, humans aren’t on the menu for bears when they’re out hunting. In fact, they’re usually more interested in the food found in your backpack or camping crockpot than you as a meal.
Some bears, like black bears, are generally quite shy and timid of humans that are present in the area. Indeed, when a human appears in their sights, they are more likely to take off in the opposite direction than towards the human in question.
Bears can also get tolerant of humans, seeing them as not a threat. But this also comes with the caveat of them getting bolder in approaching humans in general, which some people may find extremely unnerving.
But don’t be fooled. Even if bears are non-confrontational in nature, this doesn’t mean that they won’t consider attacking you. There are a multitude of reasons why a bear may consider attacking you, and not just because it decided to pick you as prey for today. Maybe you got too close to the cubs of a mother bear, maybe you approached the carcass that a feeding bear considered its own, maybe you have a lot of food on hand that a bear might want to snack on.
Long story short, bears may attack for a lot of reasons, and the best strategy still is to stay away from them when you can. They’re only cute when viewed from a camera or from afar, but they can be dangerous and deadly when up close and personal.
There is a reason why you hike in a group in known bear countries, after all.
Bear intelligence
Believe it or not, bears are very intelligent. In fact, they are considered one of the most intelligent land animals in North America, and if you’ve seen the way these animals behave, you would definitely believe it.
A scenario that people learn from campers is that if a bear stumbles upon a campsite and successfully manages to raid all the food found in it, they’re going to do it again, and get even more bolder in doing so. This type of reinforcement eventually leads to a bear thinking that the presence of humans means that delicious food is nearby, potentially making an encounter with them risky.
And it’s not like humans can do much about it. When a bear surprises a group of (usually unarmed) humans, humans don’t try to chase it off aggressively, as it is a risky thing to do and the bear may choose to attack. Instead, they back away and let the bear ransack the place, and only return once the bear has moved on.
There are other things that can show how intelligent a bear is as well. If bears see delicious food found on top of trees, they will usually climb to get it. Bears have also been known to properly use tools to their advantage.
Wrapping up
So, what now? Should I fear for my life every time I step out in the countryside, just because I want to get away from the city life for a bit, because of these bears?
The answer is no, you don’t.
Bears are animals with a low human kill-count and their attacks against humans have only been decreasing over the years, and bear attacks are rarely fatal. In fact, you have a much higher chance of being killed by a bee than a bear!
The thing is, most bear attacks against humans come from a mother defending their cubs against what they perceive to be attackers or other predators, instead of bears thinking that they want to hunt humans.
Nevertheless, one should always prepare for the chance that you will encounter a bear, especially if you enjoy outdoor activities like hiking on nature trails or camping. And of course, always treat a bear encounter with utmost caution. Bear attacks are rare, but always be prepared, just in case you may be part of that statistic, if you want to get out of there with all your limbs attached to your body.