
The Bears Who Came to Town and Would Not Go Away - Thevet
http://www.outsideonline.com/2090866/bears-who-came-town-and-would-not-go-away
======
sidek
Sounds like the residents/town didn't do enough to dissuade bears.

I've been to Jasper, Canada, which is in the Rockies surrounded by forest, and
the countermeasures they take to stop bears from coming to town are crazy. All
garbage cans have special bear-proof lids, there is tons of education, etc.

And it mostly works-- some bears come, but they don't perceive the town as a
source of food.

~~~
cushychicken
I wonder how helpful that would be. It sounds like the influx was due to a
failure of their normal food sources; the bears sound like they were starving
and desperate. Would they move on from the town if all the food sources were
locked down? My experience growing up near bears in the western US was that
they generally stayed far away from people whenever possible. The fact that
they were in town at all is a sign of pretty dire straits for their food
source.

~~~
fsociety
I grew up in the Jasper area, and we'd have bear traps placed all around the
town, in forests. The bears loved to head in to town for some easy pickings of
food. Often they'd be tranquilized if they became a problem, and then moved to
a new area.

In my personal opinion, I'd say they weren't necessarily starved for food but
they would continue heading back to town because they were handled very
carefully when encountered with a human. If they were put in a situation of
harm, they'd be killed instead of being harmlessly tranquilized.

It was fairly common to wake up in the middle of the night with a bear going
through your garbage. The town's are fairly small and in close proximity with
the forest. I think it's less about food supply and more about constant
exposure to humans, easy access, and living in close proximity.

For the most part, the bears were fairly harmless too. Any aggressive bear
would be immediately killed.

~~~
cushychicken
Interesting that there's no mention of the normal amount of bear activity
there.

------
Waterluvian
This is why conservation is important, even as a selfish act. Take away bear
habitat and you have safety problem to deal with. And the bear patrol tax
isn't cheap!

~~~
moptar
That's not why we do conservation. We do it because we don't want the bears
and other species to become extinct. In ongoing cases of people vs large
mammals, the people always win. This kind of thing can't be a long term
problem. Eventually the bears will die back to a sustainable population living
away from people.

~~~
thaumasiotes
> In ongoing cases of people vs large mammals, the people always win.

Except in Africa, where elephants are often an unmanageable menace to human
communities.

~~~
unabridged
I think a large trench around your village would be enough to stop any
elephants.

~~~
thaumasiotes
Elephants eliminate African villages by eating their crops, not by destroying
their houses.

------
tim333
The Guardian article on the same has video of the bears and people involved

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/04/russian-
town-b...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/04/russian-town-
besieged-by-hungry-bears)

------
jacquesm
In Canada there are some garbage dumps that have resident bears.

~~~
dreamsofdragons
That's not a nice way to refer to Ottawa.

------
neurotech1
Sadly, the first part of this article sounds like something from The Simpsons.
People seem to overreact to certain threats, but ignore that household
accidents kill more people than bear attacks do.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkV_ztynYDM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkV_ztynYDM)

~~~
thaumasiotes
Maybe if we were constantly living among bears, bear attacks would kill more
people.

------
naner
This looks like it is about a similar area (Russia's far-east tiaga) as the
Tiger book by John Vaillant. Similar story though with much different results:
human activity basically drove a particular tiger to very wild and dangerous
behavior.

------
peter303
Colorado has a two strikes practice. If the bear didnt injure anybody it is
captured, tagged and released hundreds of miles away. The second it is
euthanized.

------
jackgavigan
_> "What can we say about a bear that is running? It has no cap, hat, or
handkerchief, right?”_

Unless his name is Paddington.

------
andrewvijay
"surveyed the scene, and decided that they needed a drink." \- Exploded into
laughter in public transit!

------
sandworm101
>> Nikolai, an elderly pensioner, had just come out to walk his cat.

That's basically all you need to know. An large old mammal tied to a smaller
mammal = bear lunch. Do not blame a carnivore for doing what carnivores do.
Walk in groups. Don't leash your cat. Make some noise. Move around. Don't sit
down quietly on a bench.

>> A person can be standing, gathering berries, and the bear can attack from
behind. It’s easy game...

Yes it is, but I suspect the bear (which eats berries far more than meat) is
also trying to intimidate a competitor. This tale is like a spearfisher
complaining about sharks.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
"Never walk your dog, don't go outside alone, and for God's sake don't sit on
benches" is not remotely practical advice. It sucks that these people have to
deal with the fallout of irresponsible clear-cutting, but you can't ask people
to turn off their lives like it's no big thing.

~~~
sandworm101
Lol. Did you read that this bench is also right beside some unsecured
dumpsters? Clearcutting isn't the problem.

>>Two bears feasted on watermelon rinds in the dumpster across from the Great
Wall so many nights in a row that locals parked their cars nearby and waited
for them to appear, hoping to make home movies.

Not sitting on benches near piles of food is very practical. Not walking your
CAT in bear country is too.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
> Clearcutting isn't the problem.

Going from no bear problem to "a rate of up to ten per day" in a few weeks is
not normal. Unless the town had been carefully securing their garbage for
years and suddenly, unilaterally stopped, there is some outside factor driving
bears into town.

> _Not sitting on benches near piles of food is very practical._

See above. They were roaming all over the town.

> _Not walking your CAT in bear country is too._

I'm sorry, your words were: "That's basically all you need to know. An large
old mammal tied to a smaller mammal = bear lunch." You're saying that people
shouldn't take any animal out on a leash, ever. That's not reasonable.

You're also ignoring the fact that neither the cat nor its owner were
attacked. The first victim, as it happens, _was_ walking a dog, which the bear
ignored.

~~~
sandworm101
I never said anything about them being attacked. The fact that an old person
was walking a cat so casually is evidence of a lack of bear awareness. It is
evidence of a community acting in a manner that encourages bad bear
behaviours. I live in bear country (BC). I see them almost every day. Seniors
and others with with diminished mobility are encouraged not to walk alone
wherever bears may be active. Sitting quietly is also a bad idea. People are
told to make noise, to make their active presence known. Many hikers go so far
as to carry "bear bells", even "bear bangers", to ensure bears don't become
habituated. And bears eat cats all the time. A cat on a leash is like a
popsicle on a stick to a bear.

~~~
cududa
How are you still missing the point that ___bears were not previously in this
region_ __that 's what the entire story is about

