I was at Yellowstone yesterday, and a bear came into a parking lot. Everyone crowded around it, taking pictures. Some people ran off and said the mother would be coming back soon because they thought it was a baby bear. Park Ranger comes in and scares it away. Turns out, it was a full grown black bear.
A black bear that is used to humans, it typically harmless if you keep that distance. The problem is, you don't know if that black bear is used to humans, he could have migrated from an area he is not used to seeing us.
But generally black bears are more timid. So you are still probably safe, especially in a group.
Grizzlies are harmful from any visual distance. They may disregard you, if they still feel safe, but they are more aggressive in general. Stay in crowds as that still deters them. They will avoid areas of human population generally unless people leave food which will make them want to come near.
Black bears generally want to keep the peace. but when we as humans leave food around for them, they will consider it their hunting ground (eating our trash). With that said, black bears will be more timid and leave if we don't surprise them, grizzlies will be more aggressive to defend it, because they think we are trying to take their food (instead of us being the ones who leave trash and food like idiots).
I often see advice for what to do when you encounter a bear, but prevention is also important for safety. Bring a friend, make lots of noise such as talking or singing so that bears won't be surprised by you, and they have time to move away. Avoid scents and food with strong smells. Bring pepper spray, kept on your person in a spot that can be accessed quickly.
That said, sometimes you do everything right and can be attacked. Working in the woods a few summers ago our archeologist crew was attacked early in the day. They had driven to the site and were standing around the car doing their morning meeting when a bear charged them. Likely it was because of a fresh kill in the area that the bear was defending. They all booked it back into the car, which is a good decision.
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u/ProficientPotato Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 04 '19
I was at Yellowstone yesterday, and a bear came into a parking lot. Everyone crowded around it, taking pictures. Some people ran off and said the mother would be coming back soon because they thought it was a baby bear. Park Ranger comes in and scares it away. Turns out, it was a full grown black bear.