How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife Professionals
We conducted telephone surveys of wildlife professionals who work with large carnivores to ask their opinions about how people should respond to avoid being injured when confronted by a black bear (Ursus americana), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), mountain lion (Puma concolor), or gray wolf (Canis lupu...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Utah State University
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Human-Wildlife Interactions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol2/iss2/13 |
| _version_ | 1818498057167175680 |
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| author | Dylan E. Brown Michael R. Conover |
| author_facet | Dylan E. Brown Michael R. Conover |
| author_sort | Dylan E. Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We conducted telephone surveys of wildlife professionals who work with large carnivores to ask their opinions about how people should respond to avoid being injured when confronted by a black bear (Ursus americana), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), mountain lion (Puma concolor), or gray wolf (Canis lupus). The respondents agreed that the most appropriate response was to try to increase the distance between a person and the carnivore. In the event of an attack by a black bear, mountain lion, or wolf, most respondents said to fight back. Opinion was divided over the best response for an individual who was being attacked by a grizzly bear, but a slight majority of professionals said to fight back if the attack was predatory and be passive if the attack was defensive; however, respondents also noted that many victims would be unable to identify the bear’s motive. If a black bear came into camp, most respondents said that a person should aggressively encourage the bear to leave and to fight back against a bear that enters a tent at night, regardless of species. Respondents unanimously agreed that bear pepper-spray is effective in defending against an attack. While any encounter with a large carnivore can be fatal to the person involved, we believe that selecting the right course of action increases the odds that the victim can escape without injury. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T18:53:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f0b8e225678e46959d244b45edd0db65 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2155-3874 2155-3874 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T18:53:06Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | Utah State University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Human-Wildlife Interactions |
| spelling | doaj.art-f0b8e225678e46959d244b45edd0db652022-12-22T01:37:15ZengUtah State UniversityHuman-Wildlife Interactions2155-38742155-38742017-02-012210.26077/453w-ry54How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife ProfessionalsDylan E. BrownMichael R. Conover0Utah State UniversityWe conducted telephone surveys of wildlife professionals who work with large carnivores to ask their opinions about how people should respond to avoid being injured when confronted by a black bear (Ursus americana), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), mountain lion (Puma concolor), or gray wolf (Canis lupus). The respondents agreed that the most appropriate response was to try to increase the distance between a person and the carnivore. In the event of an attack by a black bear, mountain lion, or wolf, most respondents said to fight back. Opinion was divided over the best response for an individual who was being attacked by a grizzly bear, but a slight majority of professionals said to fight back if the attack was predatory and be passive if the attack was defensive; however, respondents also noted that many victims would be unable to identify the bear’s motive. If a black bear came into camp, most respondents said that a person should aggressively encourage the bear to leave and to fight back against a bear that enters a tent at night, regardless of species. Respondents unanimously agreed that bear pepper-spray is effective in defending against an attack. While any encounter with a large carnivore can be fatal to the person involved, we believe that selecting the right course of action increases the odds that the victim can escape without injury.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol2/iss2/13animal attacksblack bearcarnivoresgrizzly bearhuman–wildlife conflictsmountain lionpredator attackswolf |
| spellingShingle | Dylan E. Brown Michael R. Conover How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife Professionals Human-Wildlife Interactions animal attacks black bear carnivores grizzly bear human–wildlife conflicts mountain lion predator attacks wolf |
| title | How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife Professionals |
| title_full | How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife Professionals |
| title_fullStr | How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife Professionals |
| title_full_unstemmed | How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife Professionals |
| title_short | How People Should Respond When Encountering a Large Carnivore: Opinions of Wildlife Professionals |
| title_sort | how people should respond when encountering a large carnivore opinions of wildlife professionals |
| topic | animal attacks black bear carnivores grizzly bear human–wildlife conflicts mountain lion predator attacks wolf |
| url | https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol2/iss2/13 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dylanebrown howpeopleshouldrespondwhenencounteringalargecarnivoreopinionsofwildlifeprofessionals AT michaelrconover howpeopleshouldrespondwhenencounteringalargecarnivoreopinionsofwildlifeprofessionals |