2OO ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



ORDER CARNIVORA FLESH-EATING MAMMALS 

 FAMILY URSIDAE BEARS 



The flesh of bears is used for food, but they are not plentiful enough 

 to make a notable contribution to the world's meat supply. However, 

 in some sparsely settled regions and where protected from hunters, as 

 in our national parks, they are still fairly common. The bears of Yel- 

 lowstone National Park afford a great deal of amusement to many 

 thousands of tourists each year. They are also common in some of the 

 other parks. It was reported that in 1925 there were 44,326 black bears 

 and 5593 grizzlies in the areas set aside in the United States as national 

 forests. 1 Bears also furnish entertainment to both children and adults 

 in zoological parks and menageries. 



Bear skins are in demand for the manufacture of rugs and coats. 

 From 1889 to 1892 about 11,000 bear skins were annually obtained by 

 the Hudson Bay Company, but since 1900 the season's catch has de- 

 clined, and in 1915 the company reported only 4500 skins. 2 The de- 

 crease in the United States has been as great, and over a large portion 

 of their former range bears have been exterminated. However, it has 

 been estimated that the total production of bear skins in North America 

 in 1923-1924 was 25,ooo. 3 In 1919, 472 bears were killed in Penn- 

 sylvania. 4 



As a general thing, wild American bears are not dangerous to human 

 beings if unmolested. Of course, if we act in such a manner as to indi- 

 cate that we intend to interfere with its actions or to endanger it or its 

 young, we can scarcely blame the bear for attacking, but instances of 

 unprovoked attacks of bears upon men and women in America are rare. 

 When the circumstances of the reported cases are carefully analyzed it 

 is usually found that there is some provocative condition. 5 For ex- 

 ample, the grizzly that killed a rancher in Montana had been caught in 

 a trap, from which it had broken loose, and consequently it was in an 

 angry mood. 6 Henshaw once said that though the grizzlies of the Rocky 



1 Adams, Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, in, opp. p. 558, 1926. 



2 Hewitt, The conservation of the wild life of Canada, p. 108, 1921. 



3 Innis, The fur trade of Canada, table opp. p. 76, 1927. 

 * California Fish and Game, vn, 65, 1921. 



6 Bonebrake, An instance of an unprovoked attack by a brown bear, Journ. Mam- 

 malogy, in, 185, 186, 1922. Sheldon, The "unprovoked" attack by a brown bear, 

 Journ. Mammalogy, iv, 51-52, 1923. Grinnell (G.B.), The "unprovoked" attack by a 

 bear, Journ. Mammalogy, iv, 52-53, 1923. Seton, Lives of game animals, n, Part I, 

 pp. 46-54, 108-111, 167-169, 217-218, 1929; citing also Bruette, Forest and Stream, 

 June 22, 1907, p. 974. 



6 Skinner, Rancher killed by a grizzly bear in Montana, Journ. Mammalogy, iv, 

 53, 1923- 



