Staying away from bears is hopefully common sense… unless you happen to be on a wildlife tour in Alaska.
Apparently, wildlife photographer and guide Arthur Lefo has been with groups of people out in the Alaska wilderness so often, the bears that wonder the area don’t even care that they are there. They call it “responsible habituation,” whereas I like to call it “an accident waiting to happen.”
One of the most dangerous things in the entire world, aside from a fully grown bear, is complacency. Feeling secure is a good thing, but something about becoming complacent around a wild animal just rubs me the wrong way. See all of the examples of circus animals attacking if you need some proof.
In this video, a guide and the plethora of people with them are standing out in the middle of a field as two fully grown bears come running right at him. You could have told me “just keep still, they won’t bother us” 100 times as the bear’s approached and I still would have been curling up in the fetal position.
However, all seemed to be under control as the group of people stood still to let the bears run on by and continue their fight just feet away. If you are wanting to know an exact distance, I’ll just tell you that it’s most definitely too close for comfort.
And I say that, but as the wildlife guide himself (Arthur Lefo) told viewers in the caption of the video that there was nothing to worry about:
“As bear guides on the coast of Alaska, we are usually more preoccupied by bears interacting with other bears than we are about a single animal. Thanks to decades of responsible habituation, the bears here don’t mind us and usually worry more about others of their own kind.
The biggest threat to a bear is another bear, and oftentimes one’s reaction to another can happen quickly. This is why it’s critical that we constantly stay aware of our surroundings and focus on staying together as a group and positioning ourselves in an area where bears can still move freely amongst us. Anticipation, mindfulness, and respect of their space is the key to successful coexistence.”
I’m sorry, but that’s just crazy. Thankfully everyone is okay, since this is apparently a rather normal interaction between the wildlife tours and the bears that call Alaska home. I know one thing though… there’s absolutely zero chance my a** is going on one of those tours.
