A black bear that attacked a couple and their dog on the Blue Ridge Parkway was unrelenting in its efforts to get them, parkway officials said Friday.
The attack Wednesday evening, which occurred near the parkway's Folk Art Center that is located in "a very urban, populated part of Asheville," commenced after the couple's dog, which was unleashed, spotted the bear and ran toward it, barking, park staff have said. The couple, who were picnicking, received minor injuries trying to get their dog and themselves into the safety of their car.
Even then, the bear tried to get the couple after they were inside their car, said parkway spokesperson Leesa Brandon.
"The bear repeatedly attacked the car once the dog and couple were inside. Based on biologists' review, the attack on the car was a continued attempt to attack the people inside, and thus deemed aggressive and atypically bold," she told the Traveler in an email.
The bear possibly was agitated by the couple's dog, said a park press release Thursday.
Brandon said the couple's injuries included "bites and scratches to the head and hand," and one of the individuals dislocated a shoulder.
The spokesperson said the parkway has not had a history of bear attacks on visitors, but that "(B)ear activity has been increasing this year and we have had to take other preventative measures for public safety, including the temporary closing of Mount Pisgah Campground earlier this season when we had a bear successfully obtain a food reward from campers. This bear was captured and hazed, and no further problems have presented at Pisgah Campground."
Rangers were searching for the black bear, estimated to be around 200 pounds, involved in this incident. If found, it would be put down based on the aggressiveness of the attack, park officials have said. While the bear's sex was not known, no cubs were reported in the area, said Brandon.
Whether the couple is cited for having their dog, which was described as a "shepherd-type dog," off leash remains to be seen, she said.
"Any potential charges will not be finalized until our investigation is complete. As we are still trying to identify and isolate the bear involved, this may remain open for several days," Brandon said.
Comments
Of course a barking German Sheppherd type dog would agitate a bear. Its sad that the bear will be punished for what stupid people allowed to happen. If the dog had been on a leash and the people,upon seeing the bear, immediately made way back to their vehicle none of this would be an issue.
Really? BTW - I looked it up and it's not specifically illegal to feed bears in Buncombe County or North Carolina, although I'm not sure about the city of Asheville. Apparently there are ordinances against keeping nuisance animals, but that may not apply to a wild bear. The roads mentioned in the article are about 5 miles north of the Folk Art Center.
Well - showing aggression isn't typical bear behavior when it's agitated. A bear is far more likely to just run away to get away from whatever is bothering it. Also - it's not specifically being punished any more than a bear being hunted is being punished. It's important to not anthropomorphize wild animals. It doesn't really do any good because this isn't Yogi Bear. And it probably wasn't a random thing too. This type of agression is either inherent or learned. Inherent aggression is really scary because very few black bears are like that, and learned is disappointing because a lot comes from bears being fed intentionally or or unintentionally where a bear overcomes its inherent fear through conditioning.
My "Really?" comment was really that I found it surprising that anyone would think it's a good idea. Feeding any "large wild game animal" (bear, deer, mountain lion) intentionally is illegal in my state. I don't think even baiting bears for hunting is allowed. I was just looking it up to see what the exact situation was, and it's rather shocking. But that leads me to believe that NPS rules on food storage and dog leashing are going to be largely ineffective given how little of the area is actually NPS. This surely isn't a typical national park problem.
The most egregious bear feeding I've heard of was a woman in a suburb in Colorado who even set up a wire cage where she was obviously feeding bears (I heard dog food) against state law. Even when wildlife officials found her setup they never could fine her for the behavior. But then one bear mauled her to death.
Unfortunately, some people think it's cool to intentionally feed bears.
It is illegal to feed or bait wildlife on federal lands like NPs and USFS. State laws on private property vary. But as you have explained apparently this attack occurred on a small strip of federal land in a city. It could have just as easily happened on an unregulated strip of private land in Asheville. I read a comment on a local news report of the incident where a guy said he lived in that area and bears use that hill regularly for ingress and egress into town. That poor couple probably had no idea they were picnicking on a well used bear trail.
The YT video "More bears, people, and problems" portrays fairly well the issue we have going on in towns around the Smokies. As the bear population has exploded even indirect feeding of bears via bird feeders, trash, and pet food left on porches has become a problem.
I think the Forest Service allows bear baiting where a state allows it. I see this for Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. It's about wolves, but they mention the legality of hunting them over bait stations. Still - I'm not quite sure why that would be an issue, because I heard the preferred bear bait is not meat.
There were some pretty crazy things over the years.
Here in California, I'm sure that most residents and visitors realize that Lake Tahoe has bears, but don't necessarily understand that there are bears in Los Angeles County. They were extirpated a long time ago, but I heard that they brought in some bears from Yosemite to Angeles National Forest in the 1930s. And now the Little Old Lady from Pasadena just needs to slow down.....
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-24/bear-killed-after-be...
I'm a 5 ft. senior woman who has hiked 1,000s of miles, quite a few of them alone, in the GSMNP and in the whole region of Western North Carolina including the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have seen many bears along the trail, some close, and never was approached or threatened by them. But I followed the rules. I gave them wide berth, I didn't approach them, I stopped and walked backwards if appropriate. I would NEVER take an unleashed dog into bear territory particularly if dogs must be leashed in the location. The people who broke the law are the ones responsible for the events they brought on and for their injuries. They should be the ones paying what the law requires, not the bear who was instigated by the unleashed dog. We humans are not the only creatures with a right to live in the natural world. Unfortunately we are the only ones who think we are the masters everywhere and that we are above any laws, whether they are man-made or the laws of Nature.