Horror as hiker killed by grizzly bear after taking photos of animal for eight minutes in Ala

dailymail.co.uk ^ | 8/25/12 | daily mail reporter

[ColdOne]

Full Title..Horror as hiker killed by grizzly bear after taking photos of animal for eight minutes in Alaska's Denali National Park

A hiker in Alaska's Denali National Park photographed a grizzly bear for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him in the first fatal attack in the park's history, officials said Saturday.

Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the attack, Denali Park Superintendent Paul Anderson said.

A state trooper shot and killed the bear on Saturday, and investigators will examine its stomach contents and use other tests to confirm it's the animal that killed the hiker.

[ichabod1]

Because the bear seemed so docile he probably kept moving closer and closer. How close can you get before you provoke a bear attack? About that close.

[Chgogal]

Damn those Mama Grizzlies!

[visualops]

No common sense. 8 minutes? That’s a long time!

[Chgogal]

Wonder if this guy was a Dummycrat? Me, I'm a CommonSense person which means, I see a bear I run in the opposite direction hoping that I run faster than you. Just saying.

[TigersEye]

Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the attack, Denali Park Superintendent Paul Anderson said.

Bears are smart enough to know when they are being watched, stalked and hunted. They aren't smart enough to know whether you're hunting them with a camera or a gun. And they wouldn't care if they could.

The hiker was backpacking alone along the Toklat River on Friday afternoon when he came within 50 yards of the bear, ...

Those big Brown Bears can cover 50 yds in about three bounds and in probably less than three seconds.

[mardi59]

Years ago when I was in Wisconsin fishing off a pier for Walleye at night with my mother and sister I pulled up the stringer to add another fish when I heard a sound I had never heard before. It sounded like a HUGE bullfrog. I looked up to where there was an overturned canoe, and there was a very large bear on its hind legs roaring at us.

Needless to say, I dropped the stringer on the pier and we ran like heck back to the cabin. Our only prayer was that he wasn’t chasing us. Our shepherd dog made it to the cabin before we did and we all but fell through the door. My father thought we were nuts, 3 screaming females yelling at one time. We looked out to see the bear tearing the stringer apart, then he trashed the fish house where we would clean the fish.

There is no way I would have been taking photos. Grizzly bear just conjures up nightmares.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Dreadful. RIP.

[datura]

Darwin Award nominee.....

[Kenton]

Here's a hint for those folks in the UK, like the author.

Bears are very simple animals that are motivated almost totally by instinct, not logic.

Typically, a bear that hasn't been hunted before, especially the big browns and grizzlies, seem to have a pretty simple way of evaluating things they don't know about (like humans).

Are you a threat? If not, you must be food.

[ColdOne]

For me that is hilarious!!!

[bunkerhill7]

Man-Fil-A

[glyptol]

Hmmmm, tasted like salmon.

[IWONDR]

what the bear saw when he looked at the cameraman. LOL

[Delta 21]

The last one prolly looked somthin like this.

[ColdOne]

;)

[brytlea]

I like my big lens. Much better for gator shots.

[Billthedrill]

You can calm a charging grizzly by gently stroking it between the ears.

That's what I tell my liberal friends, anyway.

[Rebelbase]

“It wasn’t that long ago that Americans dealt with clowns like that bear. We shot them...EVERY ONE OF THEM.”

The Lewis and Clark Journals have some humorous first encounters with Grizzlies.

[MasterGunner01]

Grizzy bears are rightly feared for the simple reason their behaviors are NOT predictable. A Grizzly can go from calm and nonthreatening to enraged and attacking in a micro second. A sane person does not want to be within 500 yards (minimum and 1,000 us better) of these monsters. I'd say this guy is a candidate for the 2012 Darwin Award competition.

[Slings and Arrows]

Fine his estate for feeding the bears.