Altai Bear Drags Tourist to Her Death

In the Altai Mountains, a bear attacked a tourist tent at night near Lake Teletskoye. It pulled 29-year-old Snezhana K. out from under the torn canvas and, in front of her fiancé, dragged her still alive into the forest. They failed to fight it off. Local residents later found the woman«s half-eaten, buried remains.

Andrey Trenikhin, a former inspector at the Department for the Protection of Wildlife, spent many years monitoring the bear population as part of his duties. He answered questions and explained what could have been done in such a situation, what the chances of saving the woman were, and what could have prompted the bear to attack. What follows is in his own words.

«Either sick or wounded»

The very fact that the animal came as far as populated areas in summer already implies that something is wrong with the bear. It is either sick or wounded. Normally a bear cannot afford to brazenly attack human dwellings or people. This is absolutely uncharacteristic behavior for it. It is either sick or has been shot at. If someone shot or wounded it, it may be seeking revenge.

Or it got into a fight with another bear, suffered severe injuries, and now cannot properly feed itself.

Sick means it ate infected carrion, because they are scavengers. Its body is deteriorating, but while it is alive it tries to get food and crosses that line — it attacks a human. Rabies is unlikely; they do not live long with it.

Again, in my experience, there are two main reasons a bear attacks a human: either the bear is wounded or it is sick.

We have also had bear attacks on people in Sverdlovsk Oblast, but mostly there was a human factor: people attacked first and provoked it.

Could they have shot the bear?

According to witnesses, the bear pulled the woman from the tent and dragged her around the area. Other tourists came running at the screams, and a game warden and police arrived. Local residents were most outraged by the firing into the air rather than at the animal. The officers cited a ban on shooting at a target within a populated area.

In my understanding, to prevent a predator«s attack and preserve the lives and health of citizens, if people have the opportunity to shoot the bear, they must do so in any case. There may be legal proceedings afterward, but I think any department for the protection of wildlife should take a lenient view of such a situation. We understand this is not poaching but precisely the protection of people»s lives and health. That comes above all.

Could the woman have been saved?

Gas canisters, loud noises, shouting — none of it helps. There is no statistics showing that any of it produced a result. Once a bear has chosen and grabbed its victim and is intent on killing a human, as a rule nothing stops it. Only shooting it, killing it. Unfortunately, that is the grim statistics.

In theory, if we still went into the forest with spears, we might possibly have managed to fight the woman back. But sticks certainly will not help. They could not care less. And even if you distracted it, it would immediately lunge at other people. Its goal is to drag off its prey to use as food.

What could the tourists have had? A gas burner or a knife. None of that will help. Today«s generation of people is not even equipped to handle cold weapons. The best thing against a bear among what is available is a good flare, which burns for at least a minute. Geologists successfully use them to scare off predators. It is a good and effective thing. But again, with a caveat — against a healthy animal.

A flare is a handheld pyrotechnic device. It consists of a case with a combustible mixture and a fuse. When activated, it produces bright colored fire and hisses loudly. The device helps send a distress signal in the dark or scare off predatory animals.

The nicest thing is that it is safe, requires no permit, and can be used.

Does it make sense to play dead?

About five years ago we had a similar situation in Karpinsk District. Information came in that a man injured in a bear attack had been picked up. He was taken to hospital and treated. It turned out this man had gone out for a walk with a dog and a gun — to shoot birds. He saw a bear, and instead of calmly going their separate ways, he provoked the animal himself — fired birdshot at it.

Naturally, the dog ran off, frightened by the predator. The bear mauled the man badly, dragged him away from the road, and buried him in leaves. The man came to, waited a little, and, orienting himself by the sound of cars, crawled out to the road. He was picked up there.

So there is such a method, but it is not a 100% chance. It all depends on the bear«s condition. When it attacks while relatively well fed, simply to defend its territory, or when it has a cub, this more often helps.

Can a tent be made bear-proof?

An average bear can easily break into any car, manages to push out a window or bend a door. That is no problem for it. Let alone a tent. The only option here is to leave more smells around the camp.

Either the smell of gunpowder or of combustion products. It works reliably on most predators. But that is if they are of sound mind. Cases where a predator loses its mind and attacks a human on its own are extremely rare. In this case, it is necessary to figure out why it happened. To do that, you need to track the animal, shoot it, and hand it over to veterinarians for examination so they can give some conclusion.

In Sverdlovsk Oblast such cases are very rare and non-fatal. The population knows how to behave around bears. And even so, specialists try to monitor the numbers. Because the higher the density of bears, the greater the chance of disease outbreaks among them, the less territory for hunting, and so on.

When people encounter a bear, especially in the autumn, information immediately goes either to an inspector or to the 112 service. And they pass it on further. This is already an emergency and a reason not to go into the forest unnecessarily.

After that, a visit to the site takes place. It is recorded whether something like this really happened. The area is analyzed, how often the bear visited it, and on that basis a further decision is made: whether surveillance should be set up there for further action, driving it away, or shooting it. There is a general algorithm, it is written down, but in each specific case it is decided individually.

Read the story of a Ural man who survived a bear attack despite terrible wounds. Doctors managed to restore the maimed hunter«s former face.