They are afraid of people. In fact, attacks by these animals are so rare that in North America people are much more likely to be struck by lightning than to become victims of bears or cougars. Research shows one possible reason for this – bears and cougars make great efforts to avoid people whenever possible.
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In North America, brown bears or grizzlies attack about 11 people on average each year.
Cougars attack only 4–6 people per year. There are no exact data on the number of black bear attacks, but from 1900 to 2009 only 63 fatal attacks by these animals on people were recorded.
For comparison, in the US and Canada lightning strikes about 580 people annually.
Just looking at the numbers, lightning strikes in North America occur about 50 times more often than brown bear attacks on people. Why are such attacks rare?
According to the authors of two scientific studies, the reason is that these animals not only react to the presence of people – they actively change their behavior to avoid them.
In one study led by US Forest Service wildlife biologist Philip Manlick, scientists observed black and brown bears feeding at salmon spawning grounds in southeastern Alaska.
When a bear approached, motion-sensitive speakers played recordings of ptarmigan calls, off-road vehicle sounds, or human voices, and cameras recorded the animals’ reactions.
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It turned out that upon hearing vehicle sounds, bears hurried to leave about twice as often as when they heard ptarmigan calls. And upon hearing human voices, bears fled almost 10 times more often.
The study on cougars, led by University of California Santa Cruz environmental scientist John Morgan, revealed a similar trend.
Scientists analyzed six years of GPS data from 36 cougars living in the Santa Cruz Mountains and tagged with GPS transmitters. This data was compared with GPS activity from the app “Strava,” which showed where and when people walked, biked, or used trails.
It turned out that cougars not only reacted to the presence of people. They seemed to anticipate where and when human activity would be highest and avoided those places at those times in advance.
The results of both studies suggest that these animals behave as if they consider humans a serious threat.
