Bear Kills Trainer
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080423/...grizzly_attack

Dang. What a way to go...

Maybe the bear was just upset he didn't get a chance to bite Will Ferrell in the neck.

Who doesn't want to hurt Will Ferrel?

Pffft - the trainer was askin' for it. I mean, he was the body Double for Ferrell. The bear obviously thought it was Ferrell and gave him his dues.

That being said, I love Will Ferrell. In most things, he's smart, oriented, and fun; his work in both Stranger Than Fiction, and in Kevin Smith's Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back made me like him. According to Denise Richards (who I had no idea had a Wildlife Sanctuary, but yay for helping animals!) as well as quite a number animal trainers in attacks over the years,

We need to get Ace Ventura on the scene.

I guess I can cross "Bear Trainer" off my list of desired professions. Now all I've got left are Pumpkin Peeler and Astronaut.

Live by the sword, die by the sword. One eventuality you have to accept as a trainer who comes into contact with a lot of different animals, is that there's a good chance you'll have some aggression turned on you at some point, regardless of how good you are. Even with domesticated animals, there's always a chance element involved that skill will not negate. This is especially true when you're doing a lot of behavioural training. When it happens to be tigers and bears that you work with.... well, the cause of death shouldn't come as THAT much of a surprise. Especially when you're trying to train them to tolerate a whole lot of things they would normally never allow.

If an animal like that decides it wants you dead, it's game over for you in very short order. Not if it "gets ahold of you by the throat," but whenever it damn well pleases. Unless you happen to be holding the shotgun, you are unbelievably screwed. Even with that or some other self-defense device, there's a solid chance the animal will power through it and succumb to injuries later, provided it's in kill mode.

I will be very irate if euthanasia is an option here, in any case.

Correction. The body double for Ferrell was the victim's cousin.

That being said, I hate Will Ferrell in everything that he does to the point that my vision goes red every time I see his face. My brain has a hardwired connection between him and over-the-top-to-the-point-and-beyond-of-being-disgusting movies.

That also having been said, animals function in perfectly logical ways. Humans are just too stupid to realize what they are. Animal trainers are smart people who understand these ways, but are, like anything else, flawed, and capable of mistakes. With big animals, those mistakes can be fatal, and it's really no one's fault. Except maybe the trainer's, but accidents happen. That's why they're called accidents. The bear isn't likely to go rampaging now that he's had a taste of human blood, but he'll most likely be killed because it makes people feel like they've done something about the attack, when he's really no more dangerous than before, or more dangerous than any other bear, tiger, or anything else that's been properly trained.

Yeah, we've got a pretty strict one strike rule when it comes to animals attacking humans.

Even when we basically invited it. I mean, they were using the bear in a mock out-of-control fight. How can it be that surprising that the bear might have taken a signal the wrong way?

Firstly: We don't know that it was a mock fight. There WAS a mock fight, that the bear was in that lead to no injuries. This was after that incident with a different man than the one who fought the bear.

Secondly: Animals who attack humans are euthanized because, yes, they are more dangerous than animals who don't. For several reasons. Firstly it shows that is within that animal's personality (and I use the term loosely) to be violent. This is why we put down dogs that maul toddlers. They often maul more toddlers if we don't. This is why we put down bears that maul trainers. He's probably going to maul more trainers if we don't. Secondly, many animals develop a 'taste' for humans after having attacked one. I don't know if it's the case for bears, but it is the case for many wild animals, that, after having attacked one person, they will go on to attack more. And, thirdly, an animal who attacks a human shows that the animal can not be controlled and does not fear humans. This is bad news when the animal is capable of easily killing people.

So we can't keep him in captivity, because he's shown that he's capable of killing trainers, and WHEN he does it again (not if, animals that attack humans DO continue to attack humans) it's going to be our fault for letting it kill another person. We also can't release it into the wild because it has no fear of humans and is capable of attacking them, meaning it will, again, be our fault when it kills some campers or wanders into a town and kills a kid while it's going through the trash... killing it is really the only option.

Thirdly: ...Why are we getting indignant about euthanizing, most likely painlessly, an animal that can be, is, and was hunted? I mean, are we really going to channel all this righteous fury about putting a needle in an animal when that same animal is hunted for food and fur? I expect some hunting protesting out of a few of you peopl, here, if for no other reason than to avoid hypocrisy.

And one last thing: How is this story surprising other than the bear once worked with Ferrel? Dangerous animal kills human in close proximity when its training finally snaps... it's kind of common.

Krylo I don't think you are understanding just how adorable and innocent this bear is and how evil and stupid humans are for murdering such a benign and loving creature. The trainer likely mauled his own throat in an attempt to frame nature's kindly guardian for the crime of homicide (As if killing humans were a crime!).

There is a little documentary called Bambi I think might open your eyes...