“The bear came and destroyed the tent, rummaged through all the food, and tore people to pieces”.
These are the stories we imagine when we talk about bears. And, of course, a significant part of the population sees the bear as an enemy, a terrifying predator that must be killed. This does not apply to the target audience of our blog. However, the ignorance and illiteracy are sometimes so widespread that it begins to exert its strong influence on others. The bear attack on two tourists in the summer of 2019 in Aragats, as a result of which one of them died, exacerbated this problem even more. A senseless panic arose among travelers and the rest of society.
The problem is that due to the “survivorship bias”, many people have never thought about the bear attack when planning a hike. People often have such an approach to life that accidents happen only to others. In this case, people heard that bears live in the mountains. But of course, they will never meet a bear on their way. That is why we have witnessed such a panic reaction. It is essential to have basic knowledge about the problem because as they say: “Forewarned is forearmed”.
While preparing this article, we were guided by the lectures of the Russian zoologist Mikhail Krechmar. Krechmar is the author of a number of scientific papers, documentaries, and books about bears and nature in general. For over 20 years he has been studying the psychology of bears and is a member of the International Association for Bear Research and Management. In a word, he is a professional in his field, and we can safely rely on his advice.
Let’s talk about the real danger that bears pose. After studying the lectures of Krechmar, we came to the conclusion that the bear attack on Aragats was more an exception, not a rule. First of all, because it was the first case in this territory in a very long period of time. You will learn the details by reading the article to the end.
Bears in Armenia
You can meet brown bears in Armenia. Their habitat is wide. Brown bears live in almost all of Europe, North America, throughout Russia, the Caucasus, the Far East, Central Asia, and the Armenian Highland. Previously, the bears lived on the Arabian Peninsula and in North Africa, but now there are practically no bears left in these territories. In Armenia, brown bears can be found in the regions of Ararat, Vayots Dzor, Syunik, Tavush, Lori, Kotayk, Gegharkunik, and Aragatsotn, at an altitude of 400-500 to 3000 meters above sea level.
As we could understand, a bear is a common animal that easily adapts to new conditions, such as a cold or hot climate, a lack of food, and so on. Brown bears are omnivorous and naturally prefer meat. However, their diet mainly consists of berries, nuts, small rodents, and plant roots. In Armenia, monitoring of the number of brown bears was not conducted. However, their numbers are considered to be stable.
The fact that bears often enter villages does not indicate that their number is large. This indicates a lack of food and the destruction of their natural habitat. Bears, like wolves, are forced to enter villages and other settlements in search of food. Bears are listed in the Red Book of Armenia and are considered endangered species.
To understand the psychology and lifestyle of bears, let’s divide them into age groups.
Types of Bears
∗Cubs
One or two years, weight – 5-10 and up to 60 kilograms. Cubs can destroy the camp, rummage through bags and backpacks, and turn things upside down. They themselves are not dangerous to humans, but their mother is always somewhere nearby, and their mother is the most dangerous. If you have met her face-to-face, she will in no way retreat and will defend the cubs at the cost of her life. Always remember, if you see cubs, then their mother is somewhere nearby. Just do not approach them, do not feed, do not stroke, and do not take pictures with them!
In general, there is nothing worse than giving human food to a wild animal. If they get used to human food, and if they like it, then in the future they will definitely go to settlements, camps and destroy everything there. As a result, you create a potential danger, both for the animal and for other people. In no case should you offend the cubs. If they don’t like something, they start making a typical squeal and call for mom. And what will happen when mom appears… If you have not guessed, keep reading and you will find out everything.
∗Teens
Bears 3-7 years old, 60-150 kg. These bears have not yet matured completely, but are already torn from their mother. Usually, they walk in groups of two to three bears for several years. They do not yet have their own territory, and in search of food, they wander from one bear territory to another. Due to their age, these bears are extremely curious. They can approach a person, enter a camp or building. Due to the lack of experience, they are not prepared for many dangers and act very carelessly. However, they can be easily scared and driven away by creating noise with everything that comes to hand. However, bears of this age can easily knock down a physically unprepared person and, inadvertently, even kill.
∗Mother with cubs
Those have a weight of 70-220 kg. Often ready to start a fight in order to protect the cubs. It is almost impossible to scare and drive them away. You need to be extremely careful with them. If you notice the cubs or their mother, leave the territory as quickly and carefully as possible.
∗Mature bears
Through experience, they try to avoid people. They protect their territory from other animals and people. When they meet anything, they will try to drive them away. They are aggressive during starvation, territory defense, or prey. A bear attack can happen if you have disturbed it unexpectedly. They can actively hunt for people. This happens when the bear is hungry. That is, in late autumn and early spring, when he just woke up and feels hunger. Although autumn is much more dangerous than spring, since in spring the bear still burns fat reserves until it finds food.
Bears are also aggressive during the mating season. They are difficult to drive away, but, as a rule, they avoid conflicts. At the same time, it is very difficult to prevent unexpected attacks from this category of bears. You need to understand one simple thing – a bear is not a monster that feeds on people. He has no task to tear and kill you. In 90% of cases, nothing happens. Each goes in its own direction.
The reason is that this species is the strongest animal in its range and is located at the top of the food chain. A mature big bear is not used to reckoning with someone or giving way to someone. Therefore, if you set up your tent on the bear trail, then the bear will simply go through it. If at this moment you will be in a tent, then the end will be painful.
Possible Reasons for Conflict
The invasion of villages and towns is characteristic of immature bears and mothers with cubs. The reason for this may be:
- A large accumulation of food leftovers. Incorrect disposal of bird farm residues. Residues of animal origin are not buried properly, and a smell attracting bears comes out of a thin layer of earth.
- Lack of natural food.
- Capture of bear habitats by humans and destruction of their biotope.
- The invasion of the territory protected by the bear. Bears are solitary animals with their own territory. If a person invades the territory of a bear and meets him here, then the bear will attempt to drive the person out. In such cases, if you behave carelessly, you can provoke an attack by the bear. Large males have one very bad trait. They are not used to giving way to anyone. While moving towards, they will simply pass, trampling you, or turning the car over. This becomes even more dangerous if the bear is accompanied by its cubs, or if the bear guards its prey. The problem is that the prey does not have to be visible to you. The bear could hide it in the bushes, or bury it in the ground. You, not knowing about it, have come a dangerous distance to the prey. And the bear, thinking that you want to take it to yourself, could attack you. Prey may not only be meat, a killed animal. It can be a berry bush, a fruit tree, fruits and nuts that have fallen to the ground. Remember that bears are omnivores!
- The mating season. For a brown bear, it lasts from about May to June. At this time, they can react aggressively to any sound, smell and movement.
How to avoid problems with bear
- The bear is afraid of unfamiliar sounds, but he is attracted to unfamiliar odors. That is why the smell of gunpowder or another pungent smell will not frighten the bear. Moreover, by that you can attract the bear even more.
- You need to move in groups. A bear almost never attacks a large group of people.
- Make noise, speak loudly, and carry objects that make noise (speaker, whistle).
- Be accompanied by a dog.
This option has its pros and cons. A dog will know much earlier about the presence of a bear, since the dog’s hearing and sense of smell are stronger than human’s. But the dog must be specially trained for such situations. Otherwise, the dog, not realizing the danger, can go to the bear and get into trouble. The dog can attack the bear without thinking, or, frightened, run back to the owner and lead the bear along.
- Have special tools to scare the bear.
You can make noise with anything – metal devices, a whistle, the sound of a radio or tape recorder, “special means.” A whistle is especially effective, but fire, for example, is not. The thing is that in nature fires occur very often. Although fire is not something pleasant for wild animals, it is also not something unusual. And the logic is to identify a sound unusual for a bear. Even the sound of human conversation is enough to scare the bear. If you still have not seen a bear in the forest, it is possible that he heard or smelled you from afar and ran away. The bear can smell or hear sounds at a distance of up to 14-15 km.
- Screaming, making noise, screeching. This is a debatable point. If you try this method, it means that the whistle, the noise of devices, small firecrackers couldn’t stop the bear. This means that the bear is seriously interested in you. This rarely happens, but you must always be prepared.
- An effective option can be a strong stream of light from a flashlight (1000 lumen power). It needs to be directed to the eyes to blind the bear.
Hunters and rangers in Africa claim that this stops even elephants. Of course, all this is possible as long as you do not panic and use this method effectively.
- Size manipulation. Something small suddenly becomes big. It can scare anyone. We also get scared when a huge monster suddenly appears on the screen in horror films. This manipulation can be done in different ways. For example:
* Lift your jacket or backpack and hold it over your head
* If you are in a group, stand side by side and open your arms and legs widely
* Use brightly colored smoke bombs to create a thick cloud of smoke around you
- Pepper spray is also a controversial option. If you fail to scare the bear this way, then you will anger him even more. This will lead to disastrous consequences. When choosing a spray, take a large bottle designed specifically for protection against wild animals. An ordinary small dog protection spray will definitely not help here.
A bear attack does not happen immediately after the encounter. Except for those cases when you suddenly appear and scare them. In this case, the bear can panic and attack or trample you while running. Therefore, one cannot walk silently in nature. You should always warn about your approach by making sounds to allow the animal to retreat. Bears have very poor eyesight. They see the world colorless and vague and perceive it through their sense of smell, hearing and touching the ground with the pads of their paws.
How to Protect the Camp from Bears
In addition to noise, there are many unfamiliar things for the bear in the camp. And unfamiliar smells always attract the bear. At night, when everyone is asleep, uninvited guests may come to your camp. Mostly they come to the smell of food. You will be lucky if the bear just destroys whatever is left outside the tent and eats the food you left outside.
There are many options for fencing the camp, right up to the special electric fence. But let’s agree that this is neither practical nor realistic. There are several tricks with which you can more or less effectively protect the camp from bear’s visit.
- Pack all the food in a backpack or bag and hang it on a rope between two trees so that the bag is in the middle, at a height of at least 2.5 meters.
- Take a can of Dichlorvos (cockroach spray), and put nutella, honey or something else delicious on it. Leave the can 200-300 meters from the camp. Bear will sense this trap and will come up and hit the ball with his paw. The balloon will explode at the bear’s face, with a characteristic unpleasant odor. The bear will immediately run away frightened and disgusted.
- After setting up a camp, blow up several firecrackers over the entire radius, blow the whistle. The noise will spread over several kilometers and, most likely, not a single predator will approach your camp.
Never leave leftover food outside.
As we have already noted, a bear attack does not happen immediately. If you come to a dangerous distance, the bear, noticing you, will stand on its hind legs and will start to make a characteristic growl. Thus, the bear announces its presence and makes it clear that you need to leave. You need to leave quickly, but without panic.
Never try to run!
A bear can reach speeds of up to 40 km /h while running. You need to walk fast, but calmly, not to run and not to make sudden movements that can scare the bear. When moving away, try to keep the bear in sight as long as possible. After moving at least 100 meters away, try to disappear from the bear’s vision. After that, he will most likely move in the opposite direction to you.
A few words about “special tools”
To protect yourself and drive away the bear, you can use the following methods:
- You need to forget about firearms and pneumatic weapons forever if you are not a member of the hunters association and you do not have a hunting permit. Bear hunting is prohibited and you may be accused of poaching.
- We have already talked about gas and pepper spray. With the right choice and skillful use, they can be effective. But you need to train your reflexes in order to learn how to quickly remove the spray can, aim and put it into action.
- Whistle. It makes an extremely unpleasant sound for a bear, which will spread over a long distance.
- Hand flare. A device made of cardboard or other material filled with a flammable composition. In action, it emits a stream of flame, mostly bright red, and produces a characteristic hiss. This may be one of the most effective means of protection from bear attack.
Of course this isn’t a complete list. Having understood the logic, you will be able to study this topic yourself and improvise in the future. Remember that these tips are not 100% effective. These are just recommendations of more experienced people, which we tried to place in one article. If you follow these tips and safety rules, you will reduce the risk of getting into an unpleasant situation several times. But always be on the lookout and remember that we are only guests in the wild and should treat it with great respect.
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