Bear attacks on humans

Cases of an unprovoked attack by a brown bear on humans are very rare. A bear, as a rule, is afraid of people and tries to quickly hide away, barely sensing their presence. Bears living in places with a small presence of people are less afraid of humans compared to animals living in densely populated areas ^[1] .

Known hazards are certain types of animals and situations. Firstly, it is a bear with cubs. Trying to protect her offspring, the female can attack a person, however, even in this case, she often does not want to kill him, but scare them away from the cubs. The bear, which was found next to the prey, can show aggression, especially if it is a large male in its area. At the same time, “food” may also be food left by a person.

The risks of attack are higher during a feed-free period, when the bears suffer from hunger, and also during the rutting season , when the males are embittered. Of particular danger are the connecting rod bears - not hibernated or awakened. Being extremely exhausted, they can enter human settlements and attack livestock and people ^[2] .

The likelihood of an attack on a person, as well as precautionary measures, have their own specifics depending on the type of bear. The most potentially dangerous for humans is the polar bear , which is a 100% predator . However, often because of the high density of the human population in more southern latitudes, in terms of the number of bear attacks on people and deaths from them, the majority of the species are not considered aggressive (for example, baribal , white-breasted bear , gubach ). In this case, conflicts are usually explained by injuries, sudden encounters, territoriality, protection of offspring, etc. The brown bear occupies an intermediate position in this rating: a person is not usually considered by him as a prey. The only exception is the connecting rod bears ^{[3] [4]} . However, it should be borne in mind that European subspecies are much less aggressive towards humans than Asian-American. Kamchatka and Hokkaido ^{[5] [6]} brown bears, as well as grizzly bears of North America, are most aggressive. The climatic features of each region should be taken into account: the Nevelsky district of Sakhalin , the South Kuril Islands in general and about. Kunashir, in particular, has a rather mild oceanic climate : bears often do not go to their den at all or go to bed late / irregularly, and therefore they can roam all winter in search of food ^[7] . In this region, at any exit to the street, you need to have weapons; various types of missiles also give a good deterrent effect.

To avoid meeting a bear, it is recommended not to move quietly and stealthily in the forest. It is better to speak loudly with satellites, knock on a bucket, etc.

At the sight of a bear, one does not need to run sharply, turn his back, but rather step back, slowly back off. If a bear paid attention to a person and began to approach, it is recommended to start talking loudly, banging with metal objects ^[8] . You can use raised flares and flares . If a person is confident in his abilities, then you can be saved by climbing a thick tree with a large number of branches. A bear can loosen or break a thin tree ^[2] , and a bear can easily climb a tree without branches.

• M.A. Kretschmar . Shaggy god. - Accounting and banks, 2005. - ISBN 5-902479-01-0 .

• Memo on human behavior when meeting a bear // Gosokhotnadzor