BEAR SAFETY AND SURVIVAL IN ALASKA

1. To insert your company logo on this slide • From the Insert Menu • Select “Picture” • Locate your logo file • Click OK • To resize the logo • Click anywhere inside the logo. The boxes that appear outside the logo are known as “resize handles.” Use these to resize the object. • If you hold down the shift key before using the resize handles, you will maintain the proportions of the object you wish to resize. BEAR SAFETY AND SURVIVAL IN ALASKA RC “Bear” Harrop FRA G 4 U. S. ARMY, ALASKA

2. Hiking,Camping and Bears OH MY!!!!

3. Goals • Trip Planning • SAR or Trip Report • Buddy System • Bear Safety

4. Tents are not bullet proof and wont keep bears out

5. The claw of a bear can rip thought a sea lion skin several inches thick • This had to hurt

6. This bear paid the ultimate price for it’s attack

7. A Skull is Designed to Protect the Brain. It works for the most part !

8. Safe Trip Planning • NEVER GO ALONE , • Remember the rule of “3’s”: travel in groups of three or more: people, boats or machines. • Fill out a SAR or trip report and give to a responsible person.

9. Safe Trip Planning • Make sure that you and your equipment is in good condition. • Take adequate survival gear. • Remember the “1/3rd Rule” • 1/3rd of your fuel, food, or energy to get you there • 1/3rd to get yourself out/back • 1/3rd for being lost/ screw ups

10. SAR Trip Report • Fill out SAR Prevention Travel Form • Make sure that someone knows: • Where you are going and what route • When you plan on being back • What equipment you have • Who & how many are in the party • Who to call if you don’t return on time

11. Signaling Device • ELTs Emergency Location Transmitters • Whistles • Flares • Signal panels • Mirror • Radio or Cell phone (caution in most areas in Alaska they don’t work)

12. Bear Safety in Alaska

13. Bear’s live in Alaska • In general they avoid people • Most people will live in Alaska for years and never see one. • If you go out in the wilderness you may see one. • Knowing what to do is critical • Running from bears can get you killed or mauled.

14. Bear information • Bears do have relatively good vision. • They more then compensate for any lack of vision with their sense of smell. • They can smell even small pieces of candy or food in your tent miles away.

15. BEARS AT A GLANCE • Adult bears vary in weight from 125 to 850 pounds or more • Male bears are usually larger than females of the same age. • When on all four legs, black bears measure about three feet high at the shoulders and when upright on their hind legs, they may approach five to six feet tall.

16. BEARS AT A GLANCE • Brown bears may measure 3.5-4.5 feet at the shoulder and 6 to 8 feet tall. • Bears are known to live up to 20+ years of age in the wild. • They are very agile, good swimmers, climb trees very well, and can run at speeds in excess of 35 mph.

17. How to Distinguish Between a Black and a Brown Bear. Color and size are not reliable indicators of species. The black color varies widely from blonde to light brown to brown, cinnamon, rust, or black. The color of brown (grizzly) bears varies from blonde to light brown to black, with brown or reddish hairs interspersed. Brown bears are, on average, larger than black bears, a large male black bear may be larger than a young female brown bear. • black bears • males, 130-660 pounds • females, 90-175 pounds • 2.5-3 feet tall at shoulder • brown bears • males, 300-860 pounds • females, 205-455 pounds • 3.5-4 feet tall at shoulder

19. Bear and Human conflicts in AK 1960-2002

23. Black VS Brown Attacks

24. Reason for Conflict

26. Injury Classes

28. Safety in Numbers • The larger your group is, the less risk of a bear attacking. • Stay together as a group, particularly if visibility is poor.

29. Safety in Numbers

30. Hiking,Camping and Bears OH MY! • Buddy System • Rules to Follow • Stay Together • Bears Don’t like Surprises • Don’t Crowd Them

31. In Bear Country • Stay Alert • Use your ears, eyes, and even your nose to detect the presence of a bear. • The sooner you are aware of the bear, the more time you and the bear will have to react appropriately. • Be Visible, Make Noise • A surprise encounter with a bear is dangerous and can be life threatening.

32. Be Visible, Make Noise • However, you can reduce the potential for such encounters. • Avoid surprises by traveling in open areas with good visibility. • Make noise as you walk, particularly in thick brush, or when rounding a blind corner. • Talk, clap, and sing. • Be extra alert in windy conditions or near noisy streams or beaches that may mask your sounds. • When possible, travel with the wind at your back. • Safety in Numbers

33. What Should You Do if You Encounter a Bear?

34. Defensive Bear Encounters • Defensive behaviors arise when bears are defending food or female bears are defending their offspring. • Defensive encounters usually occur suddenly and at close distances. • Defensive behavior may include snorting, huffing, jaw popping, and charging. • If you note any of these behaviors STOP AND STAND YOUR GROUND. Your safety lies in calming the bear. • Talk calmly to the bear; move slowly away diagonally if the bear is stationary. Continue to monitor the bear as you move from the area.

35. If the Bear Renews its Advance STOP • Stand your ground again. Talk calmly to the bear. • If the bear charges remain non-threatening and stand your ground. Most charges do not end in contact. • Now is the time to use bear pepper spray if you have it!

36. What if the Bear Makes Contact During a Defensive Encounter? • IF IT IS A BROWN BEAR, PLAY DEAD: • Lie face down with your hands clasped behind your neck and legs spread apart so the bear can’t turn you over. Do not move until the bear leaves the area. • If the attack is prolonged and the brown bear begins to feed on you, fight back vigorously! • The encounter has now likely changed from a defensive one to a predatory one.

37. What if the Bear Makes Contact During a Defensive Encounter? • IF IT IS A BLACK BEAR, • DO NOT PLAY DEAD: • Fight back vigorously! • NEVER PLAY DEAD WITH A BLACK BEAR! Most black bear attacks are predatory. • FIGHT ANY BEAR THAT ATTEMPTS TO ENTER YOUR TENT!!!!

38. Non-defensive Bear Encounters • If the bear is aware of you and either looking or not looking at you, or moving steadily along a route, this can be considered non-defensive behavior.

39. Non-defensive Bear Encounters • If the bear is aware of you and either looking or not looking at you, or moving steadily along a route, this can be considered non-defensive behavior. • What if you are hiking or kayaking and you encounter a non-defensive bear? • Change your course to avoid the bear. • Increase your distance from the bear • Stay alert to the bear’s where about.

40. If the Bear Continues to Approach • Stand your ground and remain assertive. • If a bear charges you stand your ground and remain assertive. • Make yourself look big. Most non-defensive charges do not end in contact. • Now is the time to use bear pepper spray if you have it! • If the bear makes contact fight back vigorously! This is likely a predatory attack. • Kick, punch, or hit the bear’s face, eyes and nose.

41. What if you are camping, cooking, or eating and you encounter a non-defensive bear? • Keep all of your gear under your direct control. • Make sure the bear is aware of your presence. Talk calmly to the bear . • Stand your ground! • If you are in a group, stay together without blocking the bear’s route. • If the bear is not focused on you allow the bear to pass peacefully. • If the bear approaches and is focused on you, • Stand together and elevate your defensive actions by shouting, yelling, and waving your arms. Do not retreat from the bear. • Use noisemakers like air horns or bang pots and pans.

42. Avoid Bears • If possible change your course to avoid the bear or move out of the area slowly. • Never approach a bear, even from your boat or kayak. • Approaching bears is dangerous and can cause undue stress and disturbance to the bear increasing the risk of attack. • Store Food Properly • Keep all food and scented items under your immediate control.

43. Camping • Pick a GOOD Camp Site! • Make Your Presence Known • DON’T SMELL LIKE FOOD!

44. Camp Site • NO FOOD IN THE SLEEPING AREA • Remove ANYTHING that SMELLS like FOOD • Cook, Clean away from Sleeping Area • Hang Your Food!

45. Choosing Your Camp Site • When choosing your tent site • Avoid areas frequented by bears • Camping in travel corridors • River corridors • Trails • Do not camp in the intertidal zone. • Do not pursue or harass bears for the sake of a close encounter or photograph, either on land or from your watercraft. • Cooking and Storing Food

46. Minimize Bear Disturbance and Displacement • Allow bears to pass by your camp undisturbed. • Make sure that the bear is aware of your presence so it is not surprised. • Kept all your gear under your direct control, allow the bear to pass by unhindered. • You may just be afforded the opportunity to safely observe this amazing creature in its natural environment.

47. Food Protection • Need for protecting food • May lose some or all of your food • Equipment may be destroyed • Could be killed or injured • Types of animals: squirrels, bears, porcupines

48. Cooking and Storing Food • Keep all food and cosmetics in the BRFC when not in use. • Place any: • snacks, • wrappers, • lip balm, • sunscreen, etc. • Place any of these items into BRFC before entering your tent. • It is not a good idea to store food in kayaks overnight. • At night, store your BRFC and clean cooking gear off of main animal trails. • In coastal parks above high tide line • At least 100 yards from your tent and hidden in thick brush or behind rocks.

49. Cooking and Storing Food • Prepare and consume food at least 100 yards from your tent site and food storage area. • Try to select cooking areas where you can see a comfortable distance to minimize the risk of a surprise encounter with a bear passing through the area. • If camping in a coastal park, prepare and eat all food in the intertidal zone, that area below the seaweed debris line and the waterline. • Cook and eat as close to the water as possible so cooking smells and any food particles will then be washed away by the next tide.

50. Cooking and Storing Food • Be prepared to quickly stow all food back into the BRFC if a bear should suddenly approach. • Keep your gear together— minimize the amount of space that you occupy. • Always ask yourself, “Is there room for a bear to get around us?” • Or “Can I quickly get all this gear under my control?”