How to Recognize a Potentially Dangerous Encounter
Injuries by black bears are rare, but can occur in the following situations:
Cornered bears
Black bears may become anxious or annoyed if they are crowded by people or
dogs, or if intently focused on a food source. These bears will
generally give many warning signs (they may make huffing or
"popping" sounds, swat or beat the ground with their
forepaws or even bluff charge) to let you know that you are too
close.
Mother bears protecting their young
Mother bears are rarely aggressive towards humans but they are protective of
their cubs. Do not test this by intentionally approaching cubs or
knowingly getting between them and their mother. The mother bear
will generally give you many warning signs to let you know that
you are too close.
Predatory black bears
On EXTREMELY RARE occasions, black bears (usually adult males) have attacked
humans with the intent to kill and eat them. This has happened
about 40 times in the last century in North America (six incidents
in
Ontario
). By comparison, many more people have been killed by lightning,
dogs, and bee stings. Predatory black bears may not make huffing
or "popping" sounds, swat or beat the ground with their
forepaws or perform bluff charges. Instead, they may press closer
and closer to their intended prey assessing whether it is safe to
attack.
What Campers Can Do
When enjoying
Ontario
's campsites, lakes, forests and hiking trails, it's wise to
remember that you're in the natural habitat of black bears. Bears
have a keen sense of smell, and are attracted by the odour of
human food and garbage. To avoid conflicts with bears, prepare …
and be aware.
Bears Travel A Long Way
Bears will travel more than 100 km to a known food source, such as a berry
patch or a stand of beech trees. Bears are highly intelligent and
will learn where other food sources can be found and seek them
out. They can easily learn to re-visit your backyard or campsite
once they have determined that food can be found there.
The majority of bear problems occur as a result of improperly stored
household garbage. Bears quickly learn to associate human
residences and campsites with a readily available food source.
Bears are also attracted to pet food that is left outdoors, bird feeders,
barbecues, composters, fruit trees, sweet corn and grain fields.
Garbage dumps provide a concentration of readily available food that often
attracts bears.
Bears lose their natural fear of humans through repeated exposure to people
in areas where food is intentionally or unintentionally provided.
In such cases, conflict with humans is inevitable; bears may even
become destructive or dangerous.
Such bears are often destroyed because they have become a
"nuisance" or are perceived as a threat to human safety.
That is why you should never intentionally feed bears or place
food to attract wildlife to your yard for viewing.
Sharing the great outdoors
We humans share the province of Ontario with
more than 75,000 black bears. Most live in the geographic expanse
stretching from Ottawa in the southeast through to Kenora in the
northwest. The central portion of this vast area, where the
highest density of black bears is found, is also Ontario's
"cottage country." So, are people sharing the great
outdoors with the bears? Or are the bears sharing their home with
people. According to leading wildlife specialists with the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources, there's plenty of room for all of
us. "With a little effort on the part of humans, both species
can `live and let live,'" says Mike Hall, District Biologist
with MNR in Sudbury.
Understanding black bears starts with studying
their life cycles, food sources and reproduction patterns, and
determining the environmental factors that motivate them to roam -
sometimes hundreds of kilometers - in search for food. No one
works harder to find these answers than the MNR specialists who
get up close and personal with these fascinating and intelligent
animals.
Dr. Martyn Obbard is a research scientist with
the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and is recognized as an
expert on black bears. Dr. Obbard and his fellow biologists have
amassed a wealth of information about black bears. Their combined
knowledge is being used to clear up misconceptions and promote
collaboration between residents and communities. As leading bear
experts, they hope that greater awareness will lead to increased
respect for bears and their value in our ecosystem, and motivate
us to take the steps necessary to reduce human-bear conflicts.
A bit of bear biology
Many people don't realize just how big black
bears are. A mature adult male can measure up to 190 cm (6 ft) in
length, and weigh anywhere from 120 to 300 kg (250 to 650 lbs).
Females can weigh up to 180 kg (400 lbs).
While we tend to think of bears as herbivores,
eating berries, nuts, roots, shoots and leaves, black bears are
actually omnivores that will eat just about anything, including
carrion and smaller animals. Black bears are opportunistic, which
means they will do what they have to and go where they must, to
find food. In what biologists call "a good food year,"
when generous rainfall and cool weather lead to lush berry crops,
bears live on what nature provides. In early spring, on emerging
from hibernation, they eat willow catkins, grasses, dandelions and
aspen leaves. When they can, they augment this diet with protein
sources such as fish, winter-killed animals and sometimes newborn
fawns or moose calves. In summer, they eat raspberries,
blueberries, chokecherries and various currants and tree berries
as they become available, looking to ant colonies and bee and wasp
nests for sources of protein. In fall, they favour hazelnuts,
mountain ash berries, acorns and beechnuts. Bears will feed for 20
hours a day, consuming enormous quantities of food, driven by a
biological imperative to put on as much weight as possible in
preparation for the coming winter hibernation.
Bears' entire lives are spent in a repeated
cycle: Eat … fatten up…hibernate…emerge. Both sexes know
they need to gain as much weight as possible during the period
from mid-April to late fall. But for the female, weight gain is
especially important, or she won't reproduce. The female may mate
successfully, but due to some amazing evolutionary foresight, her
fertilized eggs won't implant to form cubs until her body reaches
a certain weight - at least 70 kg (150 lbs).
When bears become a problem
Not all years are good food years. When a late
spring frost prevents berries from forming on the bushes, or when
heat and drought dry up the berry crop, a shortage occurs, and
bears are forced to seek food elsewhere. The proximity of
communities and cottages to forest and woodlands acts as an open
invitation. Bears have an amazing sense of smell, and can detect
the odour of food, garbage, compost, pet food and bird feeders
from great distances. If they are already foraging for food, they
will come directly to the source of what they smell. And once they
receive that positive reinforcement from "a food reward," their excellent memories will bring
them back again and again. "Even in a good food year, a bear
might re-offend based on the reward it got in a poor food
year," he explains. "Only by repeatedly finding nothing
will bears continue to move on. But it's up to people to ensure
that they find nothing."
Store garbage securely in a locked shed or garage. If you
can't do that, keep it indoors until the morning of garbage pickup
- definitely don't put it out the night before. If you use a
municipal dump, take your garbage there more often. Don't leave
pet food dishes outside overnight. If you have a barbecue, clean
the grill thoroughly - really thoroughly. Bears are attracted by
the smell of residual food. Don't fill your bird feeder during the
summer months. Wait until winter, when the birds really need those
seeds. If you have an orchard or garden, pick up fallen fruit and
vegetables from the ground. And talk to your neighbours to
persuade them to take these steps, too. As Ontario's leading bear
scientists contend, it's so much wiser to prevent bear problems
… before they become problems in the first place.
