un noted was the number of bears actually killedin conflicts with humans who required defensive measures
It is difficult to be certain. Many defensive shootings never make the news.
My best estimate is about 100-200 human-bear conflicts where the bear would be killed.
Most of those would be black bears in the lower 48 or brown and black bears in Alaska. There is about 10 grizzlies in the lower 48, most of them in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Many of them end up dead anyway, as game departments and law enforcement kill them after the conflict.
-——human-bear conflicts-——
Do you define a human-bear conflict as a one on one encounter where the human is actually endangered physically or mortally? Or, is a conflict having one’s camp or picnic ravaged by a bear tearing stuff up looking for something to eat?
“There is about 10 grizzlies in the lower 48, most of them in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.”
That is not correct. There are increasing numbers of grizzlies in northern Montana, Idaho, and even NE Washington state. The population has made a remarkable recovery. I don’t know the exact number but it is much higher than 10.