Does anyone have an idea of what proportion of black bear attacks are predatory in nature, like this one appears to be? Versus more reactionary or defensive (e.g. to protect cubs or territory).

Could rabies be a factor in this story?

From what I read, I doubt it, but it always remains a remote possibility. Bears get rabies.

There have been rabid bear attacks here in Maryland, in Virginia, and (I think) in Pennsylvania. These attacks are very rare. As I understand it, once infected, the rabies kills the bear relatively quickly.

In both the Maryland and Virginia attacks, the only means to stop the bear was to use lethal force, i.e. shotguns. I don't know what happened in the Pennsylvania attack.

There is some data that suggests that black bear attacks are more likely to be predatory than brown/grizzly bear attacks.

Brown/griz attacks tend to be most often defensive in nature (from the bears perspective). Because of their great size and strength these bears can do incredible damage in their first attack, but once they perceive you to be no longer a threat, they will retreat. (The important exception to this would be a brown bear defending a food cache, a moose kill for example.) Hence the advice that in a brown bear attack, if all else fails, as a last resort curl up and play dead.

Black bears are in general more timid than brown bears, and more likely to run away without attacking. However, when black bears do attack, there is good evidence that in many of these attacks the black bear is acting as a predator and you are lunch. Hence the advice that if attacked by a black bear, DO NOT PLAY DEAD, but rather fight back with any means available.

This means that if traveling in areas where both black and grizzly bears might be present, one should take the time to learn how to tell them apart.

As has been noted by others, one of the best sources of information on this stuff is Stephen Herrero's book "Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance". Herrero is a professor of Biology and Environmental Science at U of Calgary in Alberta. He is a world recognized expert in bear safety. In my opinion it is a must read for anyone living, working, or playing in bear country.

Herrero says he has found no association of rabies with bear attacks. It could be, but he has not found evidence of it.

"Hence the advice that in a brown bear attack, if all else fails, as a last resort curl up and play dead."

This worked for an NPS colleague when stationed and working in Alaska. She was uninjured while a coworker was mauled. This was before bear spray was readily available (1980s)...

The study I linked to earlier in this thread found the bear to be predetory in 88% of fatal black bear attacks. This studied the 59 incidents resulting in the death of one or more people by a black bear from 1900-2009.

Unfortunately as this only covers fatalities, it doesn't look at encounters where the people survived so you can't see how many total encounters there may have been over that period or how many encounters not relating in fatalities may have been with black bears exhibiting predetory behavior (such cases were ancedotally mentioned in the study, but not enumerated).

That study did add: "However, we note that an analysis of fatal attacks that occurred over a long time period (110 years) may make black bear seem more dangerous than they are, because some people may focus on the total number and ignore the long time period during which the fatal attacks occurred."

In context, that's like one fatal attack every 2 years for all of the US (Alaska & the lower 48) and Canada.

Thanks for the informative answers to my questions, folks.

Just because it is being discussed:

California Women Fights off Black Bear

From my Study of Case Studies, the Study cited above, two other American Studies, and a perusal of book; "Most" Black Bear Attacks that lead to Deaths are Bears that go Predatory, while "Most" Grizzly Bear Attacks are Accidental, Mother/Cub Related or involved Bears Protecting a Food Source. That does not means that a Grizzly Bear will not go predatory, it just means that it is less likely. In fact the most interesting difference between the Species is that Black Bear Mother will simply drive away a "Threat to its Cub(s)" while a Grizzly Mother will "Kill the Threat"

The woman in the video says she does not want the bear euthanized. However, it is my understanding that the putting down of the bear is necessary to test it for rabies (by examination of the brain.)

Latest update, with a few more details.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Bea...;cm_cat=Article

I was betting it was rabies, but apparently not.