Grandfather Of Mauled 11-Year Old Blames Officials
Posted: 20 Jun 2007 09:13 AM CDT
11-year old Samuel Ives was camping at the head of American Fork Canyon in the Uinta National Forest with his family when a black bear snatched him from a tent and dragged him some 400 yards where his body was found having been mauled to death by the bear.
Earlier that same day, another camper had reported to officials that a bear had attacked him through his tent, even biting and ripping a pillow and lugging it off. There are differing reports as to what park officials did in response to that bear encounter.
One report yesterday claimed that officials notified some of the other campers in that area that there was a bear that had been spotted. In a report today, Jim Karpowitz, Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources director, said officials searched for the bear all day on Sunday.
That policy includes aggressively hunting bears believed to be dangerous, says Karpowitz. And it’s one reason there has never been a fatal black bear incident until now, he adds. In fact, he says wildlife officials had already spent a day actively hunting the bear that would kill 11-year old Samuel Ives later Sunday night. Immediately after the incident, Karpowitz says additional hunters and dogs went after the bear and killed it Monday morning.
Officials have stated that there are existing signs warning campers of the existence of bears, etc. But there seems to have been some confusion as to what transpired after the early Sunday morning encounter leading up to the fatal attack on Sam Ives. A report from ABC4.com, tells a story of perhaps a poorly communicated report of a bear encounter.
An examination of the stomach contents of the bear shot by officers in American Fork Canyon confirmed it mauled the Ives boy. If they had not found the killer bear officials said they would have closed off sections of the forest to campers until they did.
Rangers did post warning signs around the campsites but admit they would have taken more precautions if they had known the seriousness of the bear activity that had occurred before the deadly attack. “It was reported as only a brush by,” Logan said. “Not the detail of what that really was.”
Samuel Ives grandfather, Eldon Ives, says he blames forestry officials for not alerting the family of the bear encounter earlier in the day.
The grandfather of an 11-year-old boy who was killed by a black bear blamed federal foresters today for not warning that the animal had harassed another group of campers at the same site hours earlier.
“We’re hoping that the Forest Service will do a better job protecting campers. It’s been like a surreal nightmare,” Eldon Ives told reporters at a news conference on his front lawn.
“The violent way he was taken is a sorrow that will never heal,” Ives said.
But officials continue to blame food as the reason for the attack. Eldon Ives stated emphatically there was no food in the family tent that would have attracted the bear.
ABC4.com in their report says that Uinta National Forest officials blame the attack on dirty campers who don’t take care of their food.
“It’s usually the person who pays the price did not cause the problem, it’s prior camp experiences the black bear has had with dirty campers,” said Uinta National Forest Service District Ranger John Logan. “Wildlife fear humans and stay away from humans. It’s just when they have these food familiarities that we have problems.”
Logan says that once a bear samples these leftovers, etc. the bear’s natural fear of humans disappears and because of that sometimes bears will attack humans looking for food.
So, are we to assume that bears will attack humans out of anger now that they have no fear of us? Is this anger born because the bear come looking for food and don’t find it, so they take it out on whomever happens to be handy? If the bear was that hungry, would it eat the human?
Whatever the answers are to those questions, people need to understand that although the majority of the time they are relatively safe in the woods and while camping. There are things that can be done to reduce those odds. One is to protect yourself. Arm yourself as a way to protect you and your family. Do take care of food. Don’t toss unwanted items into the woods or leave them laying around. Don’t leave or toss unwanted items into your fire pit either. Wash up all dirty dishes immediately when finished cooking.
All these things and more will help but most importantly never assume that a bear will always flee from you because they are more scared of you than you are of it. Most people never see bears in the wild for that reason but under the right circumstances, any wild animal will attack. It could be pushed by hunger, protection reaction, disease or a host of other reasons. All wildlife needs to be respected and treated as though it could potentially be dangerous.
Tom Remington
http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/?p=2258
