Utah boy killed in bear attack

[ashersdad]

June 18, 2007, 9:11AM
Utah boy killed in bear attack


© 2007 The Associated Press

AMERICAN FORK, Utah — An 11-year-old boy was attacked and killed by a black bear as he slept in a tent with his family, police said.

The boy, sleeping alone in a section of the large tent, screamed before he was dragged away in his sleeping bag Sunday night in a canyon about 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, said sheriff's Lt. Dennis Harris.

The boy's body was found about 400 yards from the tent in the direction of another campsite where a bear sighting had been reported earlier in the weekend, Harris said.

Authorities were searching for the bear Monday.

American Fork Canyon is a popular camping destination. Harris said the family was camping about two miles up a dirt road from a popular campground.

 

[Thunder]

The bear has been put down and is being checked for human remains. AF Canyon is very rugged and has a lot of game.

This is a terrible tragedy!

 

[camo308]

Black bears eat bugs & berries, Grizzly bears eat people... or at least that is the story you always hear.

Apparently they got the right bear. Too bad the other people that had the problem with it didn't tell anyone.

 

[MarvB]

Don't know about that camo- regarding the "grizzly's eat people" thing, I've always thought/been told that why its true that black bears are less likely to attack humans than grizzly bears, the grizzly attacks are most often defensive, while black bear attacks on humans are often predatory. That's why feigning death when a black bear attacks is often ineffective?

In short- more likely to be attacked by a grizz....more likely to be lunch with a blackie! .....course I don't want to prove EITHER theory!

 

[camo308]

That makes sense Marv, seems like from the reports, whenever a black bear attacks someone they are usually in the food mood. Griz attacks seem to be more for protection of something like cubs or a food stash.

But I think the griz is still more of a predator than the blackie. If you spook a black bear they usually run away, a griz will be more likely to stand it's ground.

 

[A-con]

Wow, what an incredible tragedy. You really have to feel for the boy’s family. How many times have we told people;
“Don’t worry about black bears, they are afraid of people, and will run every time”.
I wonder if this particular bear was sick or injured.

 

[BuzzH]

In rare cases things like this happen...part of the deal if you want to play in the woods.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Yep - things happen in the woods sometimes. An Asian couple touring Yosemite wanted to sue the Park Service because they were injured by a rock slide.

My brother did his Master's thesis on "Urban Bears" and spent a year trapping and tracking black bears. His experience and research is that a black bear attack is much more likely to be predatory in nature than a grizzley attack. Since, in most cases, a black bear is not all that much bigger than a human, the attacks are rarely successful or may not be pursued to an actual physical attack.

The CA DFG used to relocate problem bears into an area of the San Bernardino mountains that was not that far from a bunch of youth camps. In the 80s, there were several kids attacked by bears habituated to eating from the camps' dumpsters....

 

[camo308]

Yea, if I remember correctly, all of the original black bears in So Cal were trouble bears relocated from Yosemite and Sequoia in the early 1900's. Prior to that the only bears in So Cal were grizzlies.

I imagine that most of the kids that get attacked have peanut butter and jelly on their face, food or fish smell on their clothes though. We had bears in our neighborhood when I lived in So Cal and my wife even met one face to face while walking the dog one evening. The bear was eating avocados out of a small tree and she surprised him. The bear couldn't wait to get outta there. And he was a big bear too. We saw him almost every year and to my knowledge he's still snooping around those avocados to this day. Never had any attacks there though and these bears were pretty urbanized.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

You are right on in several regards, Camo!

1. Black bears are not native to So Cal!
2. Avocados are a favorite food of the local "urban" bears.
3. There are huge bears in the local So Cal mountains - some huge boars denning within hundreds of yards of subdivisions.
4. The two kids that I know personally that were attacked had food in their tents and/or sleeping bags.

Regarding the grizzlies - "The last one was killed in Tulare County in 1922, more than 20 years before the authority to regulate the taking of fish and wildlife was delegated to the California Fish and Game Commission by the State Legislature."
- direct quote from California State Library.