Thursday, April 26, 2018

North America's Fatal Bear Attacks


KTUU-TV in Alaska has created an interactive map showing all fatal bear attacks in North America. 29.6 percent of all fatal bear attacks in the United States occur in Alaska, which I guess explains KTUU-TV's interest.

The Fatal Bear Attacks Map shows all fatal bear attacks in North America from January 2000 to June 2017. You can filter the results shown on the interactive map by year and by the type of bear involved in the attack. 2005 and 2014 were the worst years for fatal bear attacks, with 6 & 5 fatalities respectively. During the period that the map covers black bears were involved in 25 of the attacks and brown bears were involved in 21.

If you select an incident on the map you can read a summary of the attack and the name of the victim.


In 2016 National Geographic attached cameras and tracking collars to two grizzly bears and two black bears inside Yellowstone National Park. They were then able to map the bears' movements inside the park to observe how they find food and interact with their environment.

A Bear’s-Eye View of Yellowstone allows you to watch footage from the four bear-cams and view the bears' tracks as they move around the park. As you scroll through this special interactive presentation from National Geographic the bears' tracks are updated on the map while the bear-cam footage from the currently displayed location plays on top of the map.

Highlights of A Bear's-Eye View of Yellowstone include a black bear taking a short-cut through some people's backyards, a cannibal bear feasting on another bear and a bear's encounter with a pack of wolves.


The Bear Management Team at Yosemite National Park has a bear tracking map which allows you to follow the progress of some of the park's black bears. In order to hide the bears' locations during hibernation the map isn't actually live at the current time  However it should be live again soon as the bears come out of their winter hibernation around this time of year.

The Yosemite Bear Tracker Map (when working) displays the position of each bear and their tracks over the previous month. If you select a bear's marker on the map you can view details on how far it has traveled during the current day and how far it has traveled over the last 30 days.

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