Grizzly bears are much larger, and are more dangerous than black
bears, but the chances of being attacked by one are still very low, and
they usually only attack because they feel threatened or they feel their
cubs may be threatened by us. Understandable, how would you feel if some
stranger came along, and you were afraid he might harm you or your
children?
...It is also true that hunted populations of bears tend to be more
aggressive towards humans than non-hunted ones. (perfectly
understandable why) Also, next time you hear a news story slathered
everywhere about 'another' bear attack, but remember just how rare and
uncommon this really is, otherwise they wouldn't be sensationalizing it
on the news. There might be 2 people killed in a year by bears in the
US, but tens of thousands of people die everyday from car accidents,
cigarrette smoke and dog attacks. Believe me, you're in danger every
time you step out of your house, but certainly not from bears.
Grizzlies do, sometimes on very rare occasions, seemingly attack a
person unprovoked. However when investigated the causes of the bear
attack are far more complex than just a savage predatory action. More
often than not what caused the bear to attack had much deeper roots in
human irresponsibility.
Sadly, bears can become aggressive and dangerous once they have
become habituated to human food from rummaging through improperly stored
garbage, or even from people hand feeding them. But this is the fault of
human irresponsibility, and people should be more careful and make sure
to properly store their garbage in designated bear proof containers …and
for god sakes, don't hand-feed the grizzlies.
As huge, ferocious and scary as grizzlies may seem, It is actually
very possible to co-exist and even easy to get along with them, so long
as we are just willing to make a few responsible changes to some of our
routines and of course make sure to leave them some room on this earth
for them to roam freely.
For more on co-existing with grizzlies, check out Charlie Russell and
his groundbreaking research at:
http://cloudline.org/