US tourist killed by bear in Romania

The Associated Press ^ | Jun 24

[george76]

A bear attacked a group of U.S. tourists on a remote trail in the Carpathian Mountains, killing a woman and injuring two other people...

The bear attacked a 26-year-old woman. After she fell down and tourists threw stones at the bear, it turned its attention to a man, biting him on the leg. The bear then mauled to death the 31-year-old woman, despite more attempts to distract it by throwing stones.

The bear had earlier bitten a Romanian tourist on the shoulder and attacked sheep...

Three years ago, two men died after they were attacked ...

[donna]

European brown bear - they look just like our bears.

[Sherman Logan]

Our grizzly bears, that is.

Black bears are a different species.

[Daffynition]

Rabies in the brown bears seems to be a problem too.

[donna]

Oh, that’s true. It looks like a grizzly. For some reason, I don’t much like bears, so a black bear didn’t come to mind. Does Europe have black bears, I wonder.

I just remembered, when I was a child, I saw a trained bear perform and it made me cry - later I decided that bears are just scary. So combined, I don’t like them; but, live and let live, LOL.

[Sherman Logan]

Black bears are limited to North America.

Bears are funny-looking but are every bit as dangerous as the more scary-looking big cats. A grizzly can break the neck of an elk (or horse) with one swipe of his paw.

[donna]

I was just reading an article that said zoo keepers and animal trainers believe that bears are smarter than dogs.

Now there’s a thought - miniature bears kept as house pets like cats!

[Sherman Logan]

They better be really miniature!

[RightWhale]

They are related to dogs. Dogs like it when you chop down trees, and bears respect this, too. When confronted by a grizzly, chop down a tree. He will respect this since it takes him more than one swipe of a paw to take down an average tree and he can’t count that it takes you ten ax hits to do the same thing.

[Sherman Logan]

Good point.

Although I’d rather not try to defend myself against a griz with an ax.

[RightWhale]

That’s a valid point and so I also like to carry a Bowie knife in bear territory.

[Sherman Logan]

I prefer something that allows me to keep a little more distance.

[RightWhale]

They are fast and have excellent reflexes but they don’t know judo.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Now there’s a thought - miniature bears kept as house pets like cats!

Asian sun bears are only about four feet tall, but they are incredibly ferocious. You would have to breed them down to house cat size...and even then they might be too dangerous to domesticate. ;)

[CougarGA7]

Lesson Learned:

Don’t throw stones a Romanian bears. They hate that.

[Sherman Logan]

I would pay good money to see you, your ax, Bowie knife and judo expertise go up against a European brown bear.

[RightWhale]

Don’t stand too close. The distance the bear might fly on a hip throw might confuse him.

[Sherman Logan]

You have a lot of self-confidence. (If that’s the right word.)

[RightWhale]

Seven grizzly in the past month here. Not myself, though. One farmer up the road got two in his yard.

[donna]

The Sun Bear should be called the scary bear!
Maybe if he weighted 7 lbs.