Polar bear attacks on humans: Implications of a changing climate

Abstract

Understanding causes of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) attacks on humans is critical to ensuring both human safety and polar bear conservation. Although considerable attention has been focused on understanding black (U. americanus) and grizzly (U. arctos) bear conflicts with humans, there have been few attempts to systematically collect, analyze, and interpret available information on human‐polar bear conflicts across their range. To help fill this knowledge gap, a database was developed (Polar Bear‐Human Information Management System [PBHIMS]) to facilitate the range‐wide collection and analysis of human‐polar bear conflict data. We populated the PBHIMS with data collected throughout the polar bear range, analyzed polar bear attacks on people, and found that reported attacks have been extremely rare. From 1870–2014, we documented 73 attacks by wild polar bears, distributed among the 5 polar bear Range States (Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and United States), which resulted in 20 human fatalities and 63 human injuries. We found that nutritionally stressed adult male polar bears were the most likely to pose threats to human safety. Attacks by adult females were rare, and most were attributed to defense of cubs. We judged that bears acted as a predator in most attacks, and that nearly all attacks involved ≤2 people. Increased concern for both human and bear safety is warranted in light of predictions of increased numbers of nutritionally stressed bears spending longer amounts of time on land near people because of the loss of their sea ice habitat. Improved conflict investigation is needed to collect accurate and relevant data and communicate accurate bear safety messages and mitigation strategies to the public. With better information, people can take proactive measures in polar bear habitat to ensure their safety and prevent conflicts with polar bears. This work represents an important first step towards improving our understanding of factors influencing human‐polar bear conflicts. Continued collection and analysis of range‐wide data on interactions and conflicts will help increase human safety and ensure the conservation of polar bears for future generations. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Human–bear conflict in Alaska: 1880–2015

“…The paucity of black bear attacks in 135 years of history attest to this strategy. Polar bears, though occasionally touted as stalkers and killers of man, have failed largely to live up to that moniker (Cramond 1986, Fleck and Herrero 1989, Wilder et al 2017. Polar bears are primarily dependent on marine mammals, such as ringed seals (Pusa hispida) for sustenance (Amstrup 2003), and humans are not a part of bears' search image for food.…”

“…Conflicts between people and bears include negative interactions that are aggressive, defensive, or nuisance in nature (Gore et al 2006). A number of studies have investigated human-bear conflict in North America (Herrero 1970;Middaugh 1987;Miller and Chihuly 1987;Herrero and Higgins 1998Herrero and Fleck 1990;Miller and Tutterow 1999;Gunther et al 2004;Herrero et al 2011;Wilder et al 2017). A few authors have specifically addressed human-bear conflict in Alaska, USA (Middaugh 1987;Miller and Chihuly 1987;Miller and Tutterow 1999;Suring and Del Frate 2002;Smith et al 2008Smith et al , 2012.…”

The seasonal energetic landscape of an apex marine carnivore, the polar bear

“…Land bears in Alaska have also exhibited greater risk of pathogen exposure relative to ice bears (Atwood et al , Whiteman et al ). Additionally, land bears are at an increased risk to anthropogenic disturbance and human‐bear conflict (Wilder et al ), which could influence their movement patterns and energy expenditure.…”

Polar bears: proceedings of the 18th working meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, Anchorage, Alaska, 7-11 June 2016

“…IBPN FEB RAS will undertake data analysis and structuring for integration into the international database on human polar bear conflicts. Material from this project was also used for preparation of a circumpolar review on polar bear attacks on humans (Wilder et al 2017).…”