We often discuss the people who refuse to adhere to park signs or barriers at the risk to themselves and wildlife. The latest march of the morons was captured on a series of selfies by a man who waded into a river full of bears in a closed section of the Katmai National Park with two other people. The National Park Service is now preparing charges against this group after various people contacted them with the evidence from a webcam.
The scene was caught on Explore.org’s popular Bear Cam which showed the man taking pictures for roughly 90 more seconds in the midst of the feeding bears. Park regulations require that people stay more than 50 yards away from a bear using a “concentrated food source.”
Environmentalists often prove the greatest resource over park officials and that was the case here. The webcam evidence clearly showed the senseless violations. There is an elevated platform to view the bears but these men ventured into the river to get some snaps.
What makes me angry is that if the bears attacked, one or more could have been put down as a result of this utter stupidity.
My considered opinion is that it is a damned shame this fool didn’t get eaten.
But then, not all species of bears like nuts.
Pity the gene pool.
Bears attack and kill humans and don’t get euthanized if it’s determined that the bear was acting instinctively and not as a predator. In other words if the bear simply mauls the person but doesn’t eat it and didn’t stalk the human first. Often when bears kill humans the peanut gallery tries to offer reasons to an event that often has no logic or reason to it. Bears are bears, sometimes they are going to kill humans because they want to, it’s the nature of the beast. Bears are the number one source of mortality for other bears.
I can’t blame the humans either for doing stupid things. They are tourists. Often they are trying to apply the same sort of reasoning that has worked with dangerous humans they’ve met. “Well obviously I mean no harm so it has no reason to harm me”.
Likely the reason why he survived is because the bears had food at their paws. If they charged the man, they might lose a prime spot. If the man went closer, the bear could have interpreted that to mean he was challenging them for the spot, in which case he would be bear poo in about 4 hours.
If the bears attacked, they would be shot. He wasn’t just risking his own life, but also risking theirs. In addition, when attacks happen, parks can close certain areas to the public, ruining it for all the rest of us with better survival instincts.
People think that grizzlies are slow and lumbering because of the way they can walk unhurriedly. They can move extremely fast, faster than a race horse for short distances. Does that guy look faster than a race horse? I think not.
I thoroughly regret listening to the audio of the death of the “Bear Whisperer” and his girlfriend. Timothy Treadwell anthropomorphized bears, to the extent that he refused to bring a firearm with him when “communing” with his buddy bears. This worked out fine for years, when the bears were well fed. They did not feel threatened by him, and likely viewed him like a scavenging fox.
Then one year he set up camp near a salmon stream where grizzlies were known to fish, much later than usual. It was late autumn, and the bears still fishing were trying to put on as much fat as possible for hibernation. There were a lot of newcomer bears there, because the fishing was scarce that year. There was a lot of aggression and competition among the grizzlies.
And then hear came Timothy Treadwell, talking baby talk to bears. An actual grizzly bear would have sensed the tension in the air, recognized the newcomers, and backed off. Sows with cubs are expert at avoiding contentious fishing grounds. But not Timothy. He dragged his unwilling girlfriend on the trip, refused to bring a rifle, and then even extended their stay a week looking for a favorite sow. There was probably a very good reason why she wasn’t there but Tim, not really understanding bear behavior, didn’t take the hint.
They were killed the night before a bush pilot arrived to pick them up. I really wish I had not listened to the audio. However, the gist of it was that Timothy begged his girlfriend, Amie, to hit the bear that was ripping him apart with a frying pan, if I recall correctly. He got killed and then the last sounds were Amie screaming repeatedly just like an inured rabbit, a sound guaranteed to lure predators from the four corners.
They were the first people killed in the park’s history. It was inevitable. Two bears were shot and killed afterward.
Having those sounds branded forever, I realize that tourists like this have absolutely no idea what they risk. How fast a grizzly can run, with the inertia of a freight train. But those that do get mauled must have intense moments of regret.
Bears had better sense than to eat this grotesque human. If anything had happened it’s the human who should have been put down
There needs only to be a sign at the entrance to a park. “Stay 50 feet away from any bear(s). Watch out for cameras. We can bear witness.. Dead humans got no reason to live.”
Is it a concentrated food source? Well, that is debatable. And is he within 50 feet of the nearest bear? It is hard to tell from the camera angle, but I am saying yes. I think he and the friends have a defense.
Selfie Man could have been a concentrated food source, had be approached much closer. His actions contribute to the fearlessness bears in parks feel around humans that leads to park visitors being mauled.
I’m inclined in this case to give the National Park Service the benefit of the doubt. Was the man on the viewing platform? No, he was in the same water as the bears while they fed.
Did iyou notice they were fishing? The bears I mean.
hang him sucks not even worth a capital ‘h.’
If one attacked a human it is automatically put down. I can see no way I would give the perp any less of a sentence and besides it’s the only way to cure stupidity.