Originally Posted By: hikermor
Originally Posted By: clearwater


One train of thought is that if a animal is attacking, it is better to kill it then, rather than run it off to later attack someone else again.


Taking this line of thought to its logical conclusion, shouldn't we just shoot all bears on sight before they have the opportunity to attack?

Then we can start on the wolves, coyotes, snakes, and any other animal that poses a potential threat. Safety first! (along with a dash of sarcasm).


I think it depends on the reason for the attack. Bears will sometimes attack when you surprise them or get too close to their cubs. If that's the case then the bear is displaying normal bear behavior; that's kind of 'self defense' on the part of the bear and it not necessarily to attack another human. But if the attack is predatory- ie the bear intending to kill and eat a human- that bear has to die or a human will eventually die.

Humans are pretty soft, weak prey for apex predators (at least in the absence of a firearm). Allowing humans to become food habituated to people is extremely dangerous to both humans and bears. Bears should fear humans and when they don't bad things happen.
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