Great Smoky Mountains Bear FoundScavenging On Human Remains

"This is not something to get alarmed over."


... that's it in a nutshell

All bears found eating human are killed. No questions asked. Doesnt matter if they did the kill or not.

Black bears are usually seen running away if seen at all. I have heard more bears than have seen bears. The sound is a fast running animal making a lot of stick breaking sounds. Black bears are not typically dangerous in the wild as they like to run away (they are dangerous if you get involved personally).

This is not something to get alarmed over.

wa8yxm wrote:

But the Ranger logic on this is that once the bear gets a taste of Human flesh. that bear will want more... or so they fear. (I have heard this before and before you ask I do not know if it is true or hooey.. but there are people who claim to be experts who make this pronouncement and I have not the qualifications to argue with them. I very simply do not know).

From what I understand, all predators prefer to go after the easiest prey. Explains why wolves/bears/pumas who learn to go after livestock will continue to do it; an elk will put a beat-down on a wolf, but a sheep is easy pickings. A human is not a "natural" food - but your average un-armed hiker doesn't put up a very effective fight, sad to say. Once a predator figures that out, it's bad news for all involved.

ken56 wrote:
GSMNP has the highest concentration of black bears in the country. A 16 year old Ohio boy was attacked in his hammock 2(?) years ago. While attacking humans is usually not that common it happens. They do not know how this man died as yet. Scavenging means the bear was eating the corpse. A few bears have to be put down every year because they get too comfortable with humans. They will stroll into Gatlinburg right down mains street in the day time and people get close for that great picture. NEVER approach a bear or an elk to try to get that great picture, just don't because you could end up forcing the park authorities to put the animal down. Just stop it.

The highest concentration of bears in the country is in SE Alaska, around one per square mile.

CFerguson wrote:
Bear was just scavenging. (Not yet proven via autopsy tho.) No danger beyond any normal bear. Sad that he had to die.
Knoxville news sites have a tad more info if anyone is inclined to look.

Well. Though I agree. Also sad the camper died.

But the Ranger logic on this is that once the bear gets a taste of Human flesh. that bear will want more... or so they fear. (I have heard this before and before you ask I do not know if it is true or hooey.. but there are people who claim to be experts who make this pronouncement and I have not the qualifications to argue with them. I very simply do not know).

I hope they find "Natural causes" (Other than bear) for cause of death of camper.

A little more detail


I'm guessing they had to shoot the bear to be able to recover the body.

The incident with the boy in the hammock was in 2015.

Many many years ago as a student pilot I took a survival course on how to survive a crash in the bush.

The subject of bears came up, the instructor said something to the effect of ‘A bear can smell raw meat for 2 miles, 5 if it’s cooking or rotting.’ One of the other students asked how well can the bears differentiate between food and humans.

I can still hear the instructors answer......... “To a bear there is NO difference, it’s all food.”

GSMNP has the highest concentration of black bears in the country. A 16 year old Ohio boy was attacked in his hammock 2(?) years ago. While attacking humans is usually not that common it happens. They do not know how this man died as yet. Scavenging means the bear was eating the corpse. A few bears have to be put down every year because they get too comfortable with humans. They will stroll into Gatlinburg right down mains street in the day time and people get close for that great picture. NEVER approach a bear or an elk to try to get that great picture, just don't because you could end up forcing the park authorities to put the animal down. Just stop it.

When I was a kid we were camped in our little trailer in the Tetons. Down the way a family was grilling steaks. Yogi strolled up following his nose. He was just a small black, but these yahoos grabbed the streaks and WENT IN THE TENT! And just like sky guy said, one swipe and he was in. It sure didn’t take them long to get out though!
And Yogi enjoyed his steak in the tent.

I wouldn't camp in bear country alone, nor in a tent, not without a firearm. A bear has the advantage of surprise when your in a tent. I saw some very graphic pictures of a poor guy attacked by a grizzly. The bear ripped through a canvas tent with one swap of his paw. The guy lived just barely. He was able to reach his pistol and kill it, but it ripped his scalp off, tore up his face, almost tore his foot off. Multiple bites. I'll take hard sided rigs for me.