A Black Bear killed a lady here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park two years ago. When rangers were summoned to the site, the two bears were still there.
Both bears were put down and later tested but nothing was found to be wrong with them such as rabies.
The lady was a local elementary school teacher who hiked fairly often and when her camera was examined it was found to contain photos of the bears that killed her. Her daypack, which contained some snacks, was untouched.
Both bear were underweight if I remember correctly and it was early Spring. One bear was adult while the other was a yearling.
There was another attack also which was a little less mysterious. A man at a campsite had finished eating something greasy and layed down in his hammock and fell asleep without washing his hands. He was bit on the arm or hand but was not seriously wounded.
In a turn of events, this summer in the GSMNP, a group of motorist on a one way scenic loop, had the rare experience of seeing a small bear take down a deer fawn. The motorist became outraged at the brutality of the scene and attacked the bear by kicking, throwing rocks and one fellow even reportedly picked up the bear and threw it wrestling style.Luckily for this crowd, the mother bear was not around or the attackers would have become the attackees. The bear weighed about 40 pounds.
The motorist then took the fawn to a ranger station and explained what had happened. They were charged with "disturbing wildlife" and some other charges. The fawn died so it was taken back to the same spot in hopes that the yearling bear would come back to finish the task.
The same scene unfolded again a few weeks later, in the same area, possibly the same bear, and some other motorist also became the attackers trying to save a fawn. They began to yell and throw rocks but luckily there was a person around who knew how to take control of the would be mob and set them straight on the realities of wildlife. She gave them a lecture on the nature of the food chain.
I know this sounds too incredible but this did unfold here this year in the space of a month. The really incredible thing is that this was more than likely the same bear that was attacked twice while just trying to do whats natural.
This bear may never want to try and eat again.....LOL. The sign says "Dont feed the bears", not "Dont let the bears feed!"