When Man Becomes Prey

by Cat Urbigkit

  It is time for another shift in public thinking, to acknowledge that our efforts must now turn to keeping our distance from the animals, for the good of both human and animal populations. Focus should be on not just reconditioning predator populations to be wary of humans, but on altering human behavior in the same way—for humans to once again become wary of wild predators, animals that by definition kill to survive.

  Source Notes and Recommended Reading

  From the Introduction

  Kertson, Brian N., R. D. Spencer, and Christian E. Grue. “Demographic Influences on Cougar Residential Use and Interactions with People in Western Washington.” Journal of Mammalogy 94(2), 2013: 269–281.

  Löe, Jonny, and Eivin Röskaft. “Large Carnivores and Human Safety: A Review,” AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 33 (6), 2004: 283–288.

  Merkle, Jerod A., H. S. Robinson, P. R. Krausman, and Paul Alaback. “Food Availability and Foraging Near Human Developments by Black Bears,” Journal of Mammalogy 94(2), 2013: 378–385.

  From the Black Bears chapter

  Gunther, K. A., and H. E. Hoekstra. “Bear-Inflicted Human Injuries in Yellowstone National Park, 1970–1994.” Ursus 10, 1998: 377–384.

  Herrero, Stephen, A. Higgins, J. E. Cardoza, L. I. Hajduk, and T. S. Smith. “Fatal Attacks by American Black Bear on People: 1900–2009.” Journal of Wildlife Management 75(3), 2011: 596–603.

  Kaniut, Larry. Alaska Bear Tales. Portland, OR: Alaska Northwest Books, 2003.

  Madison, Joseph S. “Yosemite National Park: The Continuous Evolution of Human–Black Bear Conflict Management.” Human–Wildlife Conflicts 2(2), 2008: 160–167.

  From the Coyotes chapter

  Foster, D. R., G. Motzkin, D. Bernardos, and J. Cardoza. “Wildlife Dynamics in the Changing New England Landscape.” Journal of Biogeography 29, 2002: 1337–1357. Doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00759.x.

  Schmidt, R. H., and R. M. Timm. “Bad Dogs: Why Do Coyotes and Other Canids Become Unruly?” in Proceedings of the 21st Vertebrate Pest Conference. Davis: University of California, Davis, 2007: 287–302.

  Timm, Robert M., R. O. Baker, J. R. Bennett, and C. C. Coolahan. “Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban Problem,” in Proceedings of the 21st Vertebrate Pest Conference. Davis: University of California, Davis, 2004: 47–57.

  Timm, Robert M., and Rex O. Baker. “A History of Urban Coyote Problems.” Wildlife Damage Management Conferences, Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2007.

  White, L. A., and S. D. Gehrt. “Coyote Attacks on Humans in the United States and Canada.” Human Dimensions of Wildlife 14, 2009: 419–432.

  Whittaker, D., and R. L. Knight. “Understanding Wildlife Responses to Humans.” Wildlife Society Bulletin 26, 1998: 312–317.

  From the Gray Wolves chapter

  Butler, L., B. Dale, K. Beckmen, and S. Farley. 2011. Findings Related to the March 2010 Fatal Wolf Attack near Chignik Lake, Alaska. Wildlife Special Publication, ADF&G/DWC/WSP-2011-2. Palmer, Alaska.

  Fritts, S. H., R. O. Stephenson, R. D. Hayes, and L. Boitani. “Wolves and Humans,” in Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation (L. D. Mech and L. Boitani, eds.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003: 289–316.

  Geist, Valerius. “Death by Wolves and the Power of Myths: The Kenton Carnegie Tragedy.” Fair Chase 33, 2008.

  Linnell, J. D. C., R. Andersen, Z. Andersone, L. Balciauskas, J. C. Blanco, L. Boitani, S. Brainerd, U. Beitenmoser, I. Kojola, O. Liberg, J. Loe, H. Okarma, H. C. Pedersen, C. Promberger, H. Sand, E. J. Solberg, H. Valdmann, and P. Wabakken. “The Fear of Wolves: A Review of Wolf Attacks on Humans.” NINA Oppdragsmelding 731, 2002: 1–65.

  “Management of Habituated Wolves in Yellowstone National Park.” Yellowstone National Park, 2003.

  McNay, Mark E. “A Case History of Wolf–Human Encounters in Alaska and Canada,” in Wildlife Technical Bulletin 13. Juneau: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 2002.

  McNay, Mark E., and Philip W. Mooney. “Attempted Predation of a Child by a Gray Wolf, Canis Lupus, near Icy Bay, Alaska.” The Canadian Field–Naturalist 119(2), 2005: 197–201.

  From the Mountain Lions chapter

  Baron, David. The Beast in the Garden. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2004.

  Beier, Paul. 1991. “Cougar Attacks on Humans in the United States and Canada.” Wildlife Society Bulletin 19, 1991: 403–412.

  Benson, D. E. “Bridging Philosophy and Management for Lions and People,” in Proceedings of Mountain Lion–Human Interaction Symposium (C. S. Braun, ed.), 1991: 83–85.

  California Department of Fish and Game. “Trends in Mountain Lion Encounters.” dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/lion/trends.html. 2009. Accessed July 20, 2011.

  Deurbrouck, Jo. Stalked by a Mountain Lion: Fear, Fact, and the Uncertain Future of Cougars in America. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides, 2007.

  Etling, Kathy. Cougar Attacks: Encounters of the Worst Kind. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2004.

  Fitzhugh, E. Lee. “Managing with Potential for Lion Attacks Against Humans,” in Proceedings of the 3rd Mountain Lion Workshop (R. H. Smith, ed.), 1988: 74–77.

  Fitzhugh, E. L., and D. P. Fjelline. “Puma Behaviors during Encounters with Humans and Appropriate Human Responses,” in Proceedings of the 5th Mountain Lion Workshop (W. D. Padley, ed.), 1997: 26–28.

  Fitzhugh, E. L., S. Schmid-Holmes, M. W. Kenyon, and K. Etling. “Lessening the Impact of a Puma Attack on a Human,” in Proceedings of the 7th Mountain Lion Workshop (S. A. Becker, D. D. Bjornlie, F. G. Lindzey, and D. S. Moody, eds.), 2003: 89–103.

  Gross, Liza. “No Place for Predators?” Public Library of Science, 2008.

  Hebert, D., and D. Lay. “Cougar–Human Interactions in British Columbia,” in Proceedings of the 5th Mountain Lion Workshop (W. D. Padley, ed.), 1997: 44–45.

  Howard, Walter E. “Why Lions Need to Be Hunted,” in Proceedings of the 3rd Mountain Lion Workshop (R. H. Smith, ed.), 1988: 66–68.

  Mattson, D., K. Logan, and L. Sweanor. “Factors Governing Risk of Cougar Attacks on Humans.” Human–Wildlife Interactions 5(1), 2011: 135–158.

  From the Grizzly Bear chapters

  Cahill, J. A., R. E. Green, T. L. Fulton, M. Stiller, F. Jay, et al. “Genomic Evidence for Island Population Conversion Resolves Conflicting Theories of Polar Bear Evolution.” PLOS Genetics 9(3), 2013: e1003345. Doi:10.1371/journal. pgen.1003345.

  Craighead, Frank C. Track of the Grizzly. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1979.

  Gunther, K. A., M. A. Haroldson, K. Frye, S. L. Cain, J. Copeland, and C. C. Schwartz. “Grizzly Bear–Human Conflicts in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, 1992–2000.” Ursus, 14(1), 2004: 10–22.

  Gunther, K. A. and H. E. Hoekstra. “Bear-Inflicted Human Injuries in Yellowstone National Park, 1970–1994.” Ursus 10, 1998: 377–384.

  Gunther, K. A., and T. Wyman. “Human Habituated Bears: The Next Challenge in Bear Management in Yellowstone National Park.” Yellowstone Science 16(2), 2008: 35–41.

  Herrero, S. M. “Conflicts between Man and Grizzly Bears in the National Parks of North America,” in Bears: Their Biology and Management, vol. 3. From a selection of papers from the Third International Conference on Bear Research and Management. International Union for the Conservation of Nature Publications, New Series No. 40, 1976: 121–145.

  Herrero, Stephen. Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2012.

  Miniter, Frank. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2007.

  Olsen, Jack. Night of the Grizzlies. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1969.

  Schullery, Paul. The Bears of Yellowstone. Tucson, AZ: Harbinger House, 1992.

  Smith, T. S., S. Herrero, and T. D. DeBruyn. “Alaska Brown Bears, Humans, and Habituation.” Ursus 16, 2005: 1–10.

  Smith, T. S., S. Herrero, and J. M. Wilder. “Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska.” Journal of Wildlife Management 72(3), 2008: 640–645.

  From the Lear
ning to Coexist with Predators chapter

  Aumiller, L. D., and C. A. Matt. “Management of McNeil River State Game Sanctuary for Viewing of Brown Bears.” International Conference on Bear Research and Management 9, 1994: 51–61.

  Conover, Michael R. “Why Are So Many People Attacked by Predators?” Human–Wildlife Interactions 47, 2008. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hwi/47.

  Sterba, Jim. Nature Wars: The Incredible Story of How Wildlife Comebacks Turned Backyards into Battlegrounds. New York: Crown, 2012.

  About the Author

  Cat Urbigkit is an award-winning writer and photographer. She has written ten books, including Yellowstone Wolves: A Chronicle of the Animal, the People, and the Politics and Shepherds of Coyote Rocks: Public Lands, Private Herds, and the Natural World. She maintains the Wolf Watch newsblog and contributes regularly to regional newspapers and other outdoor blogs. She lives in western Wyoming.