By akademiotoelektronik, 31/12/2022

What if you come across a bear this summer?|Slate.fr

Reading time: 6 min

Why do we envy the orgasm of pigs?Are left-handers more intelligent?When it rains, insects die or resist?You have probably already asked yourself these kinds of questions without tail or head at the detour of a walk, in the shower or during a sleepless night.Each week, the explanation answers your questions, from the most existential to the most eccentric.A question?Write to [Email Protected]

Falling face to face with a bear is not a common thing.It will never even happen to you.However, knowing how to react to this imposing animal can avoid sacred troubles: a big fear in the best of cases;Death in the worst.

Some advice can be all the more precious since the Ursine population has been increasing in France in France for over twenty-five years.In 2020, sixty-four of these specimens were spotted in the Pyrenees, including sixteen cubs, according to the brown bear network (ROB)-if six more bear in 2019.

Who says more bear says more risk of crossing one on his way, especially during a summer hike.And, let's say it right away, any prospect of taking karate on one of these animals is in vain.Only observation, common sense and two or three simple techniques will allow you to increase your chances of getting out of this fortuitous meeting.So what if you come across a bear?

Situations and solutions

Above all, you should know that most of the time, the bear avoids humans and that, when he crosses one, he fled or moves away in the majority of cases - in 78% of cases exactly,If we refer to a study by the DREAL (Regional Directorate of Environment, Planning and Housing) Occitanie carried out in the Pyrenees from 1996 to 2000.

It obviously depends on the regions where we are.In Canada for example, some bear is constantly in contact with humans, including tourists, and no longer pay attention to them, says Themo Anargyros, veterinarian and a great traveler who has observed and met many bears, especially in Alaska.In the case of wild bear, without repeated contact with humans, things get complicated.

The best is simply to avoid any meeting with one of these specimens.Noise is then your best weapon.Alert the bear of your presence, talk hard with your friends during your walk, type hands, even if it means disturbing the tranquility of the place somewhat.Also keep an eye on the environment, you may find signs of a recent passage of bear, such as droppings or traces of legs.

Also reading an American jogger finds himself facing a bear and manages to reason

Comes the face-to-face."If we come across him, that means that the bear has not seen us before.You should know that the bear has a flair 200 times higher than the man, "explains Themo, who also made with one of his friends the documentary Kamthatka, the wild ride, where they go in search of the brown bearof this volcanic peninsula located in the Far East.

If the bear notices your presence and it does not start from itself, you must observe its behavior and adapt its reaction accordingly."You have to be as calm as possible.At first, you have to let him know that you are a human and not a prey.Lift your arms gently, without shouting, without sudden movement and without being aggressive: you are on its territory, in its intimacy and the objective is to leave it by making it understand that you did not want to be there ”, adds-Al.

To decline his identity as a human being to the bear, speaking is a good solution."Say him calmly, posed, that you are sorry, that you are going to leave and that you did not want to disturb him.Such words pronounced in a relaxed, reassuring way, will influence your behavior, which will also be more serene.It is a good way to de -stress, which is all the more essential as stress can pass for aggressiveness, ”says Themo.From there, back up gradually, turn back without running and without turning your back.Techniques that almost followed to the letter Alessandro, a young Italian who had crossed a bear on May 24, 2020 and whose video, filmed by his father, had toured the web.

If keeping your cool is essential, it remains all the more difficult since the behavior of the bear can be substantially intimidating.The animal can indeed have two distinct reactions: either it is curious, or it is on the defensive and can become aggressive.

If the bear stands on its back legs and agitates the muzzle in the air, do not be afraid, it takes visual and olfactory information in order to identify you.In this case, apply the gestures seen previously, without hesitation to speak in a firmer tone if the animal tries to approach.

However, it happens that the bear is bad hair and hardly appreciates your presence."He will probably start stress, drool, turn his head.Basically, he expresses his dissatisfaction for having been surprised."Try to retreat slowly, while discussing, and without giving in to the temptation to run, which would only worsen the situation.If the situation skids and the bear pretends to load, or simply loads, it is because it feels threatened and tries to intimidate you.If you do not have peppery gas for bears (Bear Spray), effective in destabilizing the animal, you need to redouble your calm to keep your calm.

"You have to put yourself on the ground on your stomach, hands on the neck," advises the veterinarian.In a way, you have to pretend to be dead, so that the bear, after probably sniffing you, no longer identifies you as a threat.We don't want anyone to get there!

To read also in Japan, bears disembark in cities to eat

We also do not want anyone to meet a mother bear and her little ones, which is, for Themo, "the worst situations".The mother is ready to do anything to protect her offspring and can load at any time.The best is to observe her reaction, hoping that she does not take the fly.And do not imagine caressing her adorable little cubs.It goes without saying that your seconds would be counted.

Camp and seasons

Another situation can also occur: the one where the bear comes from its own free will, with full knowledge of the facts, to meet your camp."They will feel human presence and, in an opportunistic way, they will say that there is food at hand.Some of them then come to the camp, not with the idea of attacking man, but rather to try to find a piece of bread lying around, for example, "says Themo exhibits.This scenario can be observed in environments where the bear more or less regularly meets humans.

"In this case, we can be more aggressive with him, it is he who comes to your space.We can say to him with a dry tone "you are not allowed to be there, go".You have to shout, while keeping your Bear Spray near you, the tear gas cane for bears, in order to scare it away when it is too close.This situation has already presented itself to the young man while he was in one of his camps in Canada."I shouted on him, he got up, he shouted too, and he left.The air of saying: ok I'm going to leave, but don't think you are the strongest.»»»»

In some cases, the bear does not hesitate to come and venture directly into the dwellings, as evidenced by a video that went around the net in June 2021.We see a young American woman pushing a brown bear with bare hands who, with her little ones, climbed a garden wall in Utah.An act as courageous as it is dangerous, which aimed above all to protect his dogs (which obviously did not lack courage either).

A last factor is also to be taken into account: the season.If currently, the Pyrenees bears have come out for some time from their long winter rest and have, at first glance, no reason to be aggressive, this is not the case at all times of the year.

"The behavior of a bear will vary depending on the season," adds Thémo.One of the worst moments to meet one, it is before he entered hibernation, around November.During this period, some old bear did not make enough fat reserves, especially because their young congeners have taken their place in the places where food is located.At that time, they know that they will not spend the winter with so few reserves, and they can be heated white.»»»»

A similar situation was right in 2003 from Timothy Treadwell, better known as Grizzly Man.After thirteen years spent documenting, filming and living with the bears of the National Park and Katmai reserve in Alaska, the adventurer and his wife were devoured by a Grizzly in October, while the latter was preparing tohibernate.

To read also like bears, human beings could one day hibernate

If we mix all the worst scenarios, it is better not to meet a hungry Grizzly mother, followed by her little ones, before their period of hibernation in the wild of Alaska.Not sure that the advice given a little above are of great use in this case in this case.