Understanding why bears might come into conflict with people, several experts say, begins with understanding bears.
At first glance, research on bear behaviour is reassuring from a human point of view: we are not part of their diet, and they don’t tend to prey on us. Giulia Bombieri, a specialist in human-wildlife conflict at MUSE, the Science Museum of Trento in Italy, has analysed some 600 brown bear attacks around the world together with colleagues. Their findings suggest that when bears attack, it is usually in defense against a perceived threat.
A wider 2023 analysis of attacks by all large carnivores showed a similar pattern of largely defensive attacks by bear species (including American black bears, Asiatic black bears, brown bears, sloth bears and polar bears). Also, bear attacks are only deadly in 9% of cases. In contrast, when felids such as lions and leopards attack humans, 65% of cases prove fatal.
However, that doesn’t mean there’s no reason to worry, according to Bombieri. Not every bear is shy, for a start. And even a shy bear may attack “if it ends up in the wrong situation”, she says – a female with cubs may for example lash out when startled.
“Each bear has an extremely individual character and its own life story,” says Claudio Groff. He is coordinator of the Large Carnivores Division of the Autonomous Province of Trento, which monitors the bears from the rewilding project. “Having said that, in Europe, a few animals, maybe 3-5% of the bear population, are what’s known as ‘problematic’. It can mean they are bold, they go into villages, and get close to people, which can be dangerous. Or, like JJ4, they may be very protective of their cubs. These aren’t necessarily abnormal behaviours, but they’re behaviours that are not acceptable to humans,” he says.
In European media headlines and risk reports, there is a special name for such troublemakers: “problem bears” – “orsi problematici” in Italian, “Problembären” in German. It has become a catch-all term for bears who have caused alarm for very different reasons: bold ones, and ordinary ones reacting in defence. Differentiating between these types of “problem bear” is however crucial when it comes to preventing attacks, experts say.