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GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is investigating after a bear ransacked a candy store in Gatlinburg. This is not the first time the bear has caused damage to the store, but the store is hopeful the bear will be relocated. Glades Homemade Candies shared on social media Friday that this is the fourth time the bear has caused damage at the store. Photos of the damage show a glass door the bear busted through, an overturned sheet pan rack and pans that were once full of sweets dragged outside. The store is located along East Parkway,...

The Florida 2025 black bear hunt has been a flop as an attempt to manage the bear population in Florida. It may have been successful as a trial run on how to manage a bear hunt. Only 52 bears were harvested. To keep a stable population, at least 600 bears should have been harvested, probably 1500. About 15 % of a black bear population needs to be harvested to keep a stable population. From myfwc.com: There were 52 bears harvested during the 2025 bear hunt, which is a hunter success rate very close to other states with similar hunt parameters....

The 550-pound bear living under a man’s Los Angeles home for 37 days has finally left the building — after being shot at with paintballs. Altadena homeowner Ken Johnson has been living with the massive black bear under his home since Nov. 30 when it began squatting in his crawl space. The “unbearable” roommate ruined Christmas for Johnson and had him on edge for weeks. The bear eviction finally happened Tuesday after Johnson contacted “The Bear League” — a group from Lake Tahoe that specializes in bear removal emergencies. “We heard about Ken, we felt bad for him and flew...

A California homeowner has finally removed a 550-pound bear living under his house that has been wreaking havoc for over a month. Kenneth Johnson, 63, discovered the massive male black bear had taken up residence in the crawl space of his $1.5 million Altadena home just before Thanksgiving. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) attempted to capture the beast, called Yellow 2120 by researchers, with bait and noisemakers. But their efforts were unsuccessful and Johnson even threatened to sue the department after they allegedly stopped helping with the removal. However, the homeowner finally had a stroke of luck...

Hunting of Ursus Arctos (grizzly bears/brown bears) was banned in British Columbia on December 18, 2017. At the time, opponents of the hunting ban warned there would be increasing bear/human conflicts. From British Columbia Wildlife Federation executive director Jesse Zeman: “When the hunt was closed, we predicted that over time human-grizzly conflicts would increase, but we also know that bears that learn bad behaviors teach those same behaviors to their offspring,” said Zeman. “This will keep getting worse until science-based wildlife management is reinstated.”Over the last ten years, Ursus arctos/human conflicts in British Columbia have doubled, from approximately 300-500 per...

On November 20, 2025, a bit before 2 p.m., a group of elementary school children was attacked by a grizzly bear, not far from their school. At least two adult men were with the children. It appears they and two others, including at least one child, were severely injured during the attack. At least one of the men is reported to have been severely injured while fighting the bear and protecting the children. Two of the victims were listed in critical condition, two others were listed as serious, and seven others were treated at the scene with less serious injuries....

Now here's a story out of Florida that bears watching. Florida's black bear hunt is underway, and troubles' a-bruin. The problem is, as it so often is in wildlife policy: A question of policy based on emotion vs. policy based on science. Ten years ago, a Florida bear hunt shocked the public when photos spread online of bloody carcasses of mother bears loaded in pick-up trucks and splayed out on concrete slabs at hunter check-in stations. The hunt, the first in 20 years, was halted in less than 48 hours after an estimated 304 bears were killed the first weekend....

The team said they are not asking for state taxpayer dollars, but are still seeking a commitment to local infrastructure and reasonable property tax certainty.

Teachers fended off a grizzly bear that attacked a school group walking along a trail in British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, officials said. "The group had stopped along a trail near the community when a grizzly bear emerged from the forest and attacked," Inspector Kevin Van Damme of British Columbia’s Conservation Officer Service, said in an update on social media. "Teachers successfully repelled the bear using pepper spray and a bear banger."

By Nono Shen, The Canadian Press Posted November 20, 2025 10:13 pm.Last Updated November 21, 2025 1:40 am.A grizzly bear has attacked a group of elementary school students and teachers in the B.C. central coast community of Bella Coola, leaving two people critically injured and two others seriously hurt.B.C. Emergency Health Services said seven more people were treated at the scene of the attack in the community about 700 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, which was called in just before 2 p.m. on Thursday.Veronica Schooner said her 10-year-old son Alvarez was in the Year 4-5 class that was attacked while on...

The beloved and former toy industry leader, Toys “R” Us, is revamping its brand ahead of the holiday season with new stores across the country, including two in California. The company announced a nationwide expansion on Oct. 16, unveiling 30 new locations. The rollout includes a flagship store at the Camarillo Premium Outlets in Ventura County and a seasonal holiday shop at Bay Street Emeryville Mall in the Bay Area. According to the company, the new stores are designed as convenient, family-friendly destinations featuring popular toy brands such as LEGO, Barbie, Hot Wheels, NERF and Paw Patrol.

Billy Halloran's peaceful trail run in Japan turned into a fight for survivalWhen Billy Halloran set out on a training run in the forest surrounding Myoko, a mountain town in central Japan, one morning in early October, he was expecting little more than a quiet workout among the trees. That changed when he noticed movement in the undergrowth—two Asiatic black bears staring back at him from less than 30 metres away. Bear encounters in Japan have surged this year, with more than a hundred people injured and at least seven killed, the highest toll since tracking began in 2006, as...

A Missouri man was found dead from a likely bear attack this week, just two days after he sent photos to his family of a bear at his campsite in Arkansas, according to officials. Police found the 60-year-old man’s body several hundred yards from his campsite near Mt. Judea, Arkansas, on Thursday. The area showed signs of a struggle and had drag marks away from the camp. The man's son had asked for a welfare check because his dad hadn’t checked in for a couple of days since sending the photos. His body has "extensive" injuries "consistent with those expected...

On June 21, 2024, Governor DeSantis of Florida signed HB87, restoring the right of people to protect themselves, their pets, and their homes against aggressive black bears. The law went into effect on July 1, 2024.From July to December 2024, FWC recorded four instances where people killed bears, but were not charged because of the new law. There were seven situations where people were charged with illegal kills. In 2021, during the same period, there were 17 illegal kills recorded; in 2022, there were seven illegal kills recorded during the same period. In 2023, there were seven illegal kills recorded...

On the evening of May 21, 2025, Justin Lee and his brother-in-law, John Long, were charged by a grizzly bear and were forced to shoot it in self-defense.They were hunting for mushrooms along Spring Creek, on a property owned by Justin, a few miles north of Choteau, Montana. Both men are longtime residents of the area. The creek has lots of mature cottonwoods, waist-high dead grass, and a fair amount of brush in some areas. Justin and John drove to the property on a side-by-side four-wheeler. When they were close to the area where mushrooms had been found, they parked...

Conservation officers say trails closed in area after e-bikers attacked by 2 grizzly bears in southeast B.C.A man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following a grizzly bear attack near Creston, B.C., officers say. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) said in a social media post that the attack happened around 4:30 p.m. Saturday when a husband and wife were riding e-bikes along the Kootenay River near West Creston in southeast B.C. The service said the wife heard her husband scream and saw a grizzly bear running at her. She used bear spray and then realized a second bear was attacking...

Romania has the highest brown (grizzly) bear population in the European Union, and the highest number of fatal bear attacks. Russia has many more bears, including more in the European part of Russia, but most Russian bears are in Asia.A study using DNA, which started in 2022 and finished in 2025, is the most accurate measurement of Romanian brown bears. The study shows a brown bear population of between 10,419 and 12,770 in Romania, about twice the previously thought number.In 2021, estimates of the brown (grizzly) bear population ranged from 2,000 to 10,000. From rferl.org in 2021:The official number of...

A grizzly bear charged a man near his residence along Foothill Road east of Kalispell on the night of July 10, 2025. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the person heard a disturbance outside and discovered the bear getting into a chicken coop. The bear charged at him, and the man shot and killed it. The man was not injured in the encounter. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is investigating the incident. This is at least the fifth such incident in recent weeks: A man shot and killed a grizzly bear that was threatening him on the northeast...

A man has died after he was attacked by a bear in one of Romania's most scenic mountain regions. The victim, who had been riding a motorcycle, stopped at a popular tourist area on the Transfagarasan road on Tuesday morning, authorities said. The bear dragged him down a steep ravine with an elevation drop of around 80 metres (262ft), they added. "Unfortunately, he was already dead when we arrived," Ion Sanduloiu, head of the Arges County Mountain Rescue Service, told the BBC. "The injuries were extremely severe. Even though he was wearing a helmet and full protective gear, it wasn't...

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations of the world are essentially the same animal, although known by different names. The European brown bear, the Hokkaido brown bear in Japan, the brown bear in Russia, the grizzly bear and kodiak bears in Alaska, and the grizzly bears in Canada and the lower 48 states are genetically the same bear with minor variations. Brown bears are complex mammals that can learn and adapt. Brown bears quickly learn whether humans are dangerous or not. When brown bears are actively hunted, they learn humans are dangerous predators and learn to avoid humans. When the...