Bear Eats Tourist in Denali.

[Ufatz]

Hiker very proud to get within 50 feet of a nice big bear. Bear get even closer and kill and eat hiker. Of course then the rescuers come and kill the bear....for doing what it naturally does. Hikers are told very CLEARLY to move away from bears and never closer than couple hundred feet or more. And NEVER between bears an/or cubs. Hiker had a camera so photos will be found. Too bad for hiker. Even worse for bear since he was where HE LIVED....minding his own business.

I've lost track of the number of these things I know of and they always make me mad. And I also know SEVEN guys who have been attacked and lived to tell about it and they ALL admit they were probably where they shouldl not have been and none of them really held it against the bear.

[traveler]

Thats a pretty classless heading, and way of putting it. Yes, a hiker was fatally mauled in Denali. It's a sad deal all the way around.

[Ufatz]

Rather than "classless" you may feel the comment or heading was insensitive, and well it might be for some. It is very hard for people who have not spent most of their life in the far north to grasp the idea that there are creatures in the woods that are bigger,faster, stronger and meaner than man and that at any moment you might be somebody's lunch. Frolicking in the sun dappled oak groves of the midwest is pleasant and the worst fear one has is of a mad farmer, angry skunk or annoyed bull.

In the latest case the victim broke all park rules regarding bears and it cost him dearly. If Alaskans are somewhat hardened to these things it is because they have seen them so many times. People hike where they should not. Go into the bush with minimal equipment. Venture into situations far beyond their capabilities and when they get in trouble it is the local Alaskan flyers who have to risk their neck to get 'em out...or Alaskan climbers who have to go get them down, or Alaskan fish and game and park people who have to go clean up the mess, kill an otherwise innocent and peaceful bear or resolve the situation.

So old timers get a bit blase, shall we say. The latest incident is indeed sad. Instead of moving AWAY from the bear he chose to stand there for more than 8 minutes taking photos from too close. Everyone feels bad about the outcome. As bad as we felt when the man in Yellowstone walked up to a buffalo and hit it with a clod of dirt. His last foolish act as it turned out. Or the ignorant duo that jumped into the tiger pit in CA.

Sadly, the animals also lose. And they are usually faultless. Not always-but usually.

[traveler]

No, I meant classless. Insensitive to me plays on how people percieve it, thus offending some and not others. Classless refers to the person making the statement, sorry.

Other than that, I agree with everything you said in the 2nd post.

[Ufatz]

Okay. Classless it is. LOL

[Surface Tension]

Might have been the 1st person eaten in Denali but it isn't the first time someone has been mauled in Denali which is what usually happens.

After living in AK it didn't take long to realize, "toto we're not in kansas anymore". Well, I'm not from Kansas but from Northern Mn and spent plenty of time in our "wilderness". AK is a different place and there are new sets of circumstances and situations that will get you.

It isn't Disney Land, it is a park and bears have no fear of man there, and for that reason your going to have encounters rather then a bear making distance.

A heightened awareness of your surroundings and common scene goes a long ways. I read the article, this fellow was a ways off from the bear and it appears the bear started closing the distance, according to the pictures. What are you going to do when there is no where to run to? That is a question to ask yourself before your put in the situation and then prepare for it. Or take your chances. BTW, it isn't just tourists getting slapped around by bears.

[Ufatz]

You are correct: not the first person mauled in the park. People have also been injured and killed by moose, knocked over by goats, charged by muskox and even (apparently) killed by wolves in one fairly well documented case.

And you are right the critters are non-discriminatory: they'll go after resident and non resident alike. All a person need do is follow some simple rules and precautions and odds are 99.9% of the time you'll have fun. Don't pay attention though and the north country can bite you right in the asterisk.

[Hoffer]

Read this story and then later Found out that this guy actually worked for my company. (Not MY company...but the company I work for too) A different division = research out of California...but still a small world.

[chasineyes]

Quote:

Okay. Classless it is. LOL

Hey it got me to read the story!!!!

[fishkid]

BTW, it isn't just tourists getting slapped around by bears.

maybe not but i bet 4/5 is tourists because they dont know their boundaries and limits and how to react in a bear situation. i have seen all sorts of tourists act just plain dumb when bears are around. for instance fishing the kenai a guy left his fishing rod leaned up against a tree. big ol black bear comes walking down the bank an is o say about 30 yards from the guys fishing pole. the guy decides he should run up and grab his rod so the bear doesnt get it. he is lucky he didnt get attacked.

[bobbymalone]

I heard it on the news and the Park Service said the guy was too close to the bear. I thought about it for a second and was like, ummm, yeah at some point, especially when the bear is kicking your arse, you are certainly too close.

bad deal. hopefully somebody will learn a lesson from this.