Black Bear Attacks Camper in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Black Bear Attacks Camper in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Monday, June 8, 2015

No comments

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have closed several trails and backcountry campsites in the Hazel Creek section of the park due to a bear incident occurring at approximately 10:30 p.m. on June 6th. A 16-year old male from Ohio was pulled from his hammock by a bear and injured at backcountry campsite 84 which is 4.5 miles from the Fontana Lake shoreline near Hazel Creek in NC. The father was able to drive the bear off from the area.

Immediately following the incident, the young man and his father hiked to the lakeshore where they were transported across the lake to Cable Cove boat dock by campers at backcountry campsite 86 who had a boat. Graham County Rescue EMS transported them to a landing zone where the injured party was flown by Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) to Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC at approximately 3:00 a.m. this morning.

The young man received multiple injuries including lacerations to the head. He remained conscious throughout the incident and is in stable condition at this time.

Park rangers and wildlife biologists are responding to the backcountry campsite area to investigate the scene and to clear the area of other campers. Hazel Creek Trail, Jenkins Ridge Trail, Bone Valley Trail, Cold Spring Gap Trail and backcountry campsites 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, and 88 are closed until further notice. Derrick Knob shelter along the Appalachian Trail has also been closed to camping until officials can determine whether recent bear activity at the shelter may also be related to the same bear.

"While incidents with bears are rare, we ask park visitors to take necessary precautions while hiking in bear country and comply with all backcountry closures," said Superintendent Cassius Cash. "The safety of our visitors is our number one priority."

The father and son were on a multi-day backpacking trip in the Smokies. Both campers were sleeping in hammocks approximately 10 feet apart and had all equipment, food, and packs properly stored on aerial food storage cables.

For more information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, please visit the park website. To report a bear incident, please call 865-436-1230.

Hikers should also note that the Laurel Falls Trail and the Mount LeConte Lodge area are posted for aggressive bear activity, while the Mount LeConte Shelter remains closed at this time.



Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
HikinginGlacier.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Grand Teton Hikes

Read More

Cherokee National Forest Announces Closures Due to Bear Activity

Cherokee National Forest Announces Closures Due to Bear Activity

Friday, August 23, 2013

No comments

U.S. Forest Service officials at the Cherokee National Forest have announced that national forest lands within the corridor between the area known as Oliver Hollow north to Wilbur Dam are temporaily closed to public entry except for through hikers on the Appalachian Trail. The closure is being implemented because of black bear activity in the area.

National forest lands within the corridor are temporarily closed to public entry by land and water access. The Watauga Lake Shelter on the Appalachian Trail is also closed to camping, but the trail is open to through hikers.

Oliver Hollow is located on Watauga Lake in Carter County on Oliver Hollow Rd off Highway 321 near Hampton, TN. Wilbur Dam (TVA) is located on the Watauga River off Wilbur Dam Rd and Bishop Hollow Rd in Carter County near Elizabethton, TN. The corridor is within the Cherokee National Forest’s Watauga Ranger District.

Oliver Hollow is a popular dispersed camping and day use area on the western end of Watauga Lake. Bears have recently been frequenting the corridor and Oliver Hollow. The U.S. Forest Service is working with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to address the concern.

Natural Resources Management Team Leader for the Watauga Ranger District, Alice Cohen said, “Bears are opportunists and become habituated to campsites and picnic areas where food has been improperly discarded or stored and is easily available. Though naturally shy of people, they learn to associate people with food. Bears then learn to frequent the same areas where they may encounter humans. This is when concerns arise.”

Forest Service officials say that in all outdoor recreation settings, you should always store your food and trash so it does not attract bears and other animals. Food should be properly stored in a vehicle, or hung from a bear pole or tree when in the back country. Trash should be placed in bear-resistant trash cans where available or packed out when you leave. Do not discard watermelons or any other food scraps in picnic areas, shooting ranges or any other recreation site. Doing so can lead to temporary closure of the site if safety becomes a concern due to bear activity. Your cooperation with this and similar temporary closures may help break the cycle of bears returning to the same sites in search of human food, protecting you and the bears.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Read More

Bear on the Plateau: An Interpretive Program at Blue Heron Campground, Saturday, June 1

Bear on the Plateau: An Interpretive Program at Blue Heron Campground, Saturday, June 1

Friday, May 24, 2013

No comments

The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area has announced a 45-minute, ranger-led interpretive program about Big South Fork's largest mammal: the American Black Bear. Come and enjoy an evening outdoors with Ranger Debby Zimmerman at the campfire circle to learn more about a myriad of bear-related topics such as historical relationships with human cultures, black bear biology, how to stay safe in bear country, and your role in keeping bear populations wild. This fun, fact-filled evening activity begins promptly at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday, June 1, at the Blue Heron Campground.

Everyone is welcome to this campfire circle program, which is free of charge and wheelchair accessible. The park asks that you wear weather-appropriate clothing.

For directions or additional information, please call the Blue Heron Interpretive Center at (606) 376-3787.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Read More

Reward Offered for Information Concerning Death of Black Bear in BSF

Reward Offered for Information Concerning Death of Black Bear in BSF

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

No comments

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area Superintendent Niki Nicholas announced today that a $500 reward is being offered to anyone that provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in the illegal killing of a black bear in the Big South Fork NRRA. The adult female bear was left in the woods and found by local hunters on Thanksgiving Day. There is no legal hunting season for bears in the Big South Fork NRRA or any lands surrounding the National Area.

The bear is believed to be the same female with two cubs that had been frequently seen in the same general area by many visitors to the park. The cubs are helpless without their mother and are not likely to survive due to their age. This poaching incident has essentially caused the death of three bears.

Anyone who has information about the incident is encouraged to call the National Area at (423) 569-9778 or use the tip line number at (423) 569-2404, extension 505.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Read More

Black bear presentation at Sugarlands Visitor Center

Black bear presentation at Sugarlands Visitor Center

Friday, July 9, 2010

No comments

The black bear, the symbol of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will be the topic of discussion at a special presentation at Sugarlands Visitor Center on Saturday, July 24 at 10:00 am.

Kim Delozier, GSMNP wildlife biology supervisor, will bring you up to date on the bear population, the mast situation, the human problem of feeding bears, and what to do and NOT do if and when encountering a bear in the park. Other interesting facts will be covered and you'll be able to ask Kim questions following the program.

This is a very timely topic given the increase in bear sightings and the recent encounter between a visitor and bear in the vicinity of Laurel Falls.

There is no fee for the program, however, the Great Smoky Mountains Association would appreciate a call to register at 865-436-7318, Ext. 222 or 254.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.

Read More

Video: Black Bear Cubs

Video: Black Bear Cubs

Friday, July 17, 2009

No comments

Black Bear Cubs on the Blue Ridge Parkway:




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.

Read More

Black Bear Field Study Workshops

Black Bear Field Study Workshops

Sunday, March 15, 2009

2 comments

Looking for an interesting and educational alternative for a vacation this year? You may want to check out the Black Bear Field Study Course offered by the Wildlife Research Institute.

The black bear workshops are lead by Lynn Rogers, Ph.D., and are designed for anyone interested in bears. You may have seen Dr. Rogers on the Animal Planet documentary "The Man Who Walks With Bears."

The courses are designed to teach you to safely learn vocalizations, body language, behavior, and ecology directly from wild bears in their wild habitat near Ely, Minnesota. The workshops also emphasize how people can better coexist with bears.

Class sizes are kept small (8 people) to maximize individual opportunities to participate in close-up black bear research. There are also daily discussions and slide presentations to amplify the information learned directly from the bears.

The Wildlife Research Institute offers eight black bear courses throughout the spring and summer; however, four of the workshops (all in August) are already closed. The cost is $1500.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with Ely, MN, I can tell you from first hand experience that this area of the country is absolutely beautiful. Ely is within the Boundary Water Canoe Area, providing perhaps the finest canoeing experience in the country, as well as within close proximity to Minnesota’s beautiful North Coast region along Lake Superior.

For more information on the workshops, please click here.

From now until March 30, Amazon is having their big DVD Sale. Hundreds of DVDs are now on sale - some as low as $6.49! For more information, please click on the banner ad below:




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.

Smoky Mountain Day Hikers Store Quality gear and apparel from some of the best outdoor brands.

Read More

Are bear encounters on the rise in the Smokies?

Are bear encounters on the rise in the Smokies?

Monday, September 8, 2008

No comments

Have you noticed the rash of encounters and aggressive bear activity over the last several weeks in the Smoky Mountains?

First there was the much publicized attack on the eight-year-old Florida boy back on August 11. If you remember, his dad was forced to fight the bear off twice before the bear relented.

Just four days later, Appalachian Trail ridge runner Jim Mowbray was bluff-charged by an adult female at the Russell Field Shelter.

That same night, a bear spent the night tearing a hole in the metal roof of the Mount Collins trail shelter and terrorizing the ten backpackers inside. The bear tried to peel the metal roof back like a tin can, continuing even as the occupants jabbed it with their hiking sticks.

The park service was forced to close both shelters.

There are stories of other encounters from the blogosphere. Smoky Scout has a report on her blog about an encounter she had with a mother and two cubs on the Sugerland Mountain Trail. Chris over at Your Smokies has had two recent encounters. Around the same time as the attack on the Florida boy, he was stalked by a bear on the Lead Cove Trail. Then just last week, he saw several bears on the Cold Spring and Hazel Creek Trails.

If you haven’t seen the National Park web site recently, there’s a laundry list of trails and campsites that have bear activity warnings. They include: Gabes Mountain Trail, Laurel Falls Trail, Little River Trail, Rabbit Creek Trail, Ramsey Cascades Trail, and the West Prong Trail. In addition to these trails, the Icewater Spring Shelter, the Tricorner Knob Shelter and backcountry campsites 5, 6, 12, 16, 18, 31, 50, 52 and 113 all have warnings as well.

Backcountry campsites 10, 15, 24, 26, 29, 53, 113, and, as mentioned above, the Mount Collins and Russell Field Shelters are all closed due to aggressive bear activity.

So what does this all mean for you?

The first thing you should do is learn and understand bear behavior. As much as possible, you should try to avoid bear encounters. Finally, and most importantly, know what to do if you come across a bear while hiking. A good place to begin learning about bear behavior and knowing what to do if you see one on the trail is by checking out the black bear page on the National Park website. There’s also a pretty good video (although somewhat comical) on the Backpacker Magazine website that shows how to handle bear encounters on the trail.

Black bear populations are on the rise in the park. This can only mean that human-bear encounters will also increase. Be prepared. Do what you can to avoid encounters and know what to do if you do meet a bear on the trail. If it makes you feel at ease, carry bear deterrent spray with you. But again, know how and when to use it.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.

Read More

Park Visitors Allow Bear to Break into Car

Park Visitors Allow Bear to Break into Car

Friday, July 18, 2008

1 comment

Below is a Youtube video showing a black bear breaking into a car at the Clingmans Dome parking lot in the Smoky Mountains. The amazing thing about this video is that there are a couple dozen people that stood around and watched the bear break the window of the car, jump in, and then take the owner’s food.

In my view, these people were totally irresponsible. Why didn’t they chase the bear off and call the Park Service? Not only was this car damaged, but that bear probably caused more trouble for other cars, campers or, possibly even acted aggressively towards some hikers. It would not surprise me if that bear had to be destroyed because it was, or became, a problem bear.

No doubt the car owner made a huge mistake by keeping food in a car with its windows partially open. However, those people that stood around and watched the bear taught it not to fear humans. There in lies the problem.




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Read More