Do not chase the bear!

[Jaga]

Read what happened to a group of American tourists in Romania. Maybe they were walking on the same trails we were walking there 20 years ago with our backpacks. I was on monthly trip in Romania mountains once. It was still during Caucescu regime, but in the mountains one does not feel a politics that much.

Below is a story:

Bear kills U.S. tourist in Romania
By the Associated Press


BUCHAREST, Romania — A bear attacked a group of U.S. tourists on a remote trail in the Carpathian Mountains, killing a woman and injuring two other people, authorities said Sunday.

The group of six tourists chased off the bear when it tried to approach them near a cabin about 75 miles north of Bucharest, but the bear reappeared on a trail and attacked the group around 10 p.m. Saturday.

The bear attacked a 26-year-old woman. After she fell down and tourists threw stones at the bear, it turned its attention to a man, biting him on the leg. The bear then mauled to death the 31-year-old woman, despite more attempts to distract it by throwing stones.

Officials did not immediately disclose the victims' identities or hometowns.

The 31-year-old died from her injuries shortly after the arrival of rescuers, state news agency Rompres reported, citing local police officials.

The bear had earlier bitten a Romanian tourist on the shoulder and attacked sheep, Andi Mihai, one of the members of the rescue team, told Realitatea TV news.

Authorities are searching for the bear to euthanize it.

Romania is home to about half of Europe's brown bear population, but attacks on humans are rare. Three years ago, two men died after they were attacked by a rabid bear.

[scatts]

They obviously didn't read all this good advice:

www.mountainnature.com/Wildlife/Bears/BearEncounters.htm

[kaima]

Ah, as usual bear attacks are the topic in Alaska. We actually lose more people per year to moose than to bears, but moose are more 'cuddly' and perceived as less dangerous. Along with some friends I am getting active with the Arctic Bicycle Club and have taken several trips with them. We have a resident brown bear in the city living next to a creek in one of our 'green belts', and authorities are trying to monitor it. The situation is tough because there are several active bike & hiking paths right in the bear's territory. Evidently bear spray is a real popular item right now, basically a large can of pepper spray much like 'MACE for defending against city muggers. It shoots a stream out about 10 meters

Bears are almost always good for a conversation. 30+ years ago when I first came up here 'bear gun' was good for long conversations and strong opinions, and it still is, though in our hug-a-tree (or bear) world people talk more about bear spray.

It is difficult to transport when you fly to the bush. Some pilots do not allow it in the airplane cabin against the chance it releases and incapacitates them - it could kill everyone on board if they can't fly. Others object to carrying it in cargo, and to carry a firearm runs across all kinds of federal 'security' issues. (Take this piper cub to Havana!)

In 1998 I had a mother-daughter team visiting from Lithuania & for the last day we took a walk around the Eagle River Nature Center about 20 km from where I live. If the woman wondered about me occasionally carrying a loaded pistol with me on our hikes, she never said anything. When the final photos from the visit came in and I packaged them up to mail off, I wrapped them in two newspaper articles. One ten year old girl smiling from a hospital bed with a cast on her lower leg from a bear attack and another with a story about a man walking the same trails we were on a week earlier - a brown bear jumped out of the woods, chomped down on his skull once, and ran off into the woods again.

Happily I have been in the vicinity of bears fairly often and have no good, personal bear stories other than finding their tracks outside my tent on a number of occasions.

My sympathy for the unlucky woman. I look upon bears as a bit human, having good and bad moods. It seems this one was in a bad mood and attacked and stuck to the attack for no good reason.

Kai

[scatts]

How do moose hurt people, Kai? Charging and gouging with the antlers or something else?

[Bob S]

;D Aha! Those tourists never learned the secret of using Mink Oil on their shoes. Using the Mink Oil would have kept the bear away: I have never been trampled by a herd of Elephants when I used Mink Oil. As a last resort, the tourists could have tooted a whistle at the bear who would have passed out with laughter and then the tourists could have escaped without injury.
Come on Kai. Who ever heard of a kid taking a Teddy Moose to bed at night? When I was a kid, I had a Teddy Bear but never a Teddy Moose. Bears are better looking and they keep the "Tree Hugger Population" low. LOL ;D