Bear Attacks : Their Causes and Avoidance

Bear Attacks is a thorough and unflinching landmark study of the attacks made on men and women by the great grizzly and the occasionally deadly black bear. This is a book for everyone who hikes, camps, or visits bear country–and for anyone who wants to know more about these sometimes fearsome but always fascinating wild creatures.

Alan Precup disappeared while backpacking in the Alaskan wilderness. Days later, searchers found his campsite. In the bushes about 150 feet away, they found Precup’s bare skeleton, one intact hand, and both feet, still booted. In his camera were the exposed frames of the bear that killed him.
Chris Dunkley and three friends were hiking in Banff National Park. Suddenly a grizzly bear mother came galloping toward them. The first of three charges came so close that it broke a fishing rod in Dunkley’s hand, yet none of the party was injured.
Keith Ecklund and Larry Reimer were fishing in central Saskatchewan one spring day when they were attacked by a black bear. Ecklund kicked the bear in the head to hold it off. Reimer came to help, was attacked, and while fighting with the bear, killed it with his filleting knife. An autopsy of the bear revealed parts of a third man, Melvin Rudd, in the bear’s gut. The rest of Rudd’s partly consumed body was found nearby.
What can we learn from these and hundreds of other attacks and non-injurious encounters with black and grizzly bears? Of all the animals in North America’s wilderness, none command such fear, awe, and interest as the bear. Creatures that fear little, bears now compete for survival with the only other animal that can threaten their existence: humans. What do we know about black and grizzly bears and how can this knowledge be used to avoid bear attacks?
For more than three decades, Bear Attacks has been the thorough and unflinching landmark study of the attacks made on humans by the great grizzly and the less aggressive, but occasionally deadly, black bear. This is the sometimes horrific yet instructive story of Bear and Man, written by the leading scientific authority in the field. This book is for everyone who hikes, camps, or visits bear country—and for anyone who wants to know more about these sometimes fearsome but always fascinating wild creatures.

Bear Attacks represents an important advancement in our knowledge about bears and how they behave toward man. Skillful use of scientific facts and understandable language create a document that will be useful to the wildlife scientist and outdoor recreationalist alike.

Ignorance is a basic cause of fear, and ignorance about bears should decline rapidly as this book becomes available and is read widely.

By far the most informed and comprehensive book I have read on bears'' reactions to human intrusion and vice-versa. Stephen Herrero has given us both sides of the stories of many conflicts between men and bears with understanding and compassion for both. He is writing not just from the records of others but with vision and understanding attained through wide and varied study and personal experience in the field...a very valuable contribution in the interests of human survival, as well as the management of bears in their habitat.

Now one of the world''s leading authorities on bear-man interactions has produced the book that has so long been needed by all who use bear country. Bear Attacks is a compelling account of bear-human conflicts, and a sympathetic and up-to-date portrayal of one of the world''s most intriguing carnivores.