Man sees bear. Man feeds bear. Bear mauls man.
Why don’t people listen to Stephen Colbert? Bears are a threat. Now I will not go as far to say they are “godless killing machines,” but it is ironic that this incident involved a church barbecue.
However, the attack did not take place at the actual barbecue. According to the Anchorage Daily News, a man was mauled by a black bear near the Eklutna Lake Campground after he threw barbecue meat at the animal. The attack occurred around 5 p.m. Saturday. The man departed the barbecue and went for a bike ride, taking some meat with him. Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said the man encountered the bear between a campground fee station and an ice cream stand near the park. The man threw one piece at the bear, which the bear devoured. Then, he offered the bear another piece. Big mistake, as Ipsen said, “That’s when it kind of went ballistic.”
The man survived the attack. He was found washing off the blood at the campground. A painful lesson learned.
According to WebPro News, the man’s identity has not been revealed because he may be charged with a crime. The man may be charged with illegally feeding wildlife. What possessed the man to think feeding the bear was a good idea? According to Ipsen, alcohol. Ipsen said, “He’d been drinking.”
This sounds harsh, but the man kind of deserved it. Biologists and authorities advise that you should never feed wild animals. Granted, he was intoxicated, but still a poor decision on his part. He should be lucky to be alive, and that he encountered a black bear instead of a grizzly or polar bear.
Should we kill all bears? No. Some bear attacks result from human error. It is okay to take pictures of bears, and admire them from a distance. It is okay to film the bears. It is not okay to do what Timothy Treadwell did, and get up close and personal with the bears. In my opinion, it is not okay to keep them as pets either. Then, you put lives in danger.
So please, for your sake, do not feed the bears. Otherwise, you are asking for trouble.
