In many cases, he gathered enough information from local reports for a summary of each attack. In some instances, he contacted wildlife agencies, hoping to get more details.<\/p>\n
He said his primary goal is to keep the public informed, in hopes that people will be more aware and make better decisions in bear country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping this is helpful and increasing awareness of the fact that bears aren\u2019t big, fuzzy teddy bears,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Researchers led by bear biologist Tom Smith<\/a>\u00a0at Brigham Young University in Utah have long kept a comprehensive bear attack database, but that\u2019s not available to the public, Dickerson said.<\/p>\n So far, he\u2019s documented more than 70 bear encounters, including 64 attacks that resulted in injury or death across North America.<\/p>\n He noted that particularly in remote parts of Canada and Alaska, attacks might go unreported.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m personally convinced that there are more attacks than what I\u2019ve been capturing (for the list),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Outside magazine published<\/a>\u00a0an interactive map of the attacks Dickerson has documented.<\/p>\n The map shows only one grizzly attack and one black bear attack in Wyoming.\u00a0<\/p>\n In May, two\u00a0brothers\u00a0were severely injured\u00a0in a grizzly attack<\/a>\u00a0in Yellowstone National Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n And in July, an aggressive black bear drove two women out of their camp<\/a>\u00a0in the Bighorn Mountains, then trashed their tents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Outside also asked renowned grizzly researcher Chris Servheen to crunch the numbers.<\/p>\n Servheen determined, for example, that 43% of the attacks were predatory, and of those 94% involved black bears.<\/p>\n That tracks with the long-held idea that while grizzlies might be more apt to attack people, black bears are more likely to actually hunt humans, Dickerson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a big difference between black bear attacks and grizzly attacks. Most grizzly attacks are territorially defensive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Grizzlies usually are trying to protect their young or defending a big-game carcass they\u2019re feeding on, he said.<\/p>\n Long-term research indicates that of fatal black bear attacks, roughly 80% are predatory, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat simply means, and a lot of people don\u2019t want to accept this, that the bear is trying to take you down, kill you, and eat you,\u201d Dickerson said.<\/p>\n What\u2019s Causing Conflicts?<\/p>\n As bears left their dens this spring, many were holding their breath, anticipating a bad year.<\/p>\n Drought and wildfires had damaged bear habitat in many places. And in other locations, natural food sources, such as berry crops, have failed.<\/p>\n And so, it was practically a given that as bears became desperate for food, there would be trouble, Dickerson said.<\/p>\n And to a degree, that\u2019s played out as feared.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some areas, droughts and fires have forced bears into lower elevations and into towns in search of food, and Colorado has been a classic case of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Durango, Colorado, has been a hotbed of human-bear conflicts this summer and fall. Statewide, wildlife agents have killed nearly 300 black bears<\/a>\u00a0over conflicts, about quadruple the number during a typical year.<\/p>\n More people recreating in bear country has also frequently been cited as a reason for an uptick in conflicts and attacks.<\/p>\n There\u2019s truth to that as well, Dickerson said. But he\u2019s wary of oversimplification, or explanations that place all the blame on humans.<\/p>\n For one thing, there are more bears out there — a lot more, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is, in many, many areas, the bear populations have grown tremendously in, say, the last 50 or 60 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Bears Expanding Range<\/p>\n Bears are also expanding their range, he said. For example, grizzlies have steadily been reclaiming their natural prairie habitat<\/a>\u00a0in central and eastern Montana.<\/p>\n \u201cBear populations have expanded into long-settled areas where there haven\u2019t been bears seen for a long time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Bears can also adapt to many habitats where people might not expect to find them, including deserts, Dickerson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have bears in Texas. A lot of people don\u2019t think we have bears in Texas, but we do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n More people and more bears in close proximity is bound to cause tension, he said.<\/p>\n Dickerson said he has little patience for what he calls \u201cpredator apologists,\u201d or people who place all the blame on humans, no matter what, some of whom have shown up in his posts\u2019 comment sections.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re missing the point. Human-bear conflicts are nothing new,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Humans and our ancestors have long shared spaces with bears, \u201cand we\u2019ve always been competing, omnivorous predators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Times Bears Don\u2019t Attack<\/p>\n \u00a0Canadian\u00a0human-bear conflict prevention expert Kim Titchener told Cowboy State Daily she\u2019s spoken with Dickerson and appreciates what he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI think the public has a right to know. I think what Mike is doing is offering the public a chance to be aware of what is happening,\u201d Titchener said.<\/p>\n \u00a0She hopes people use the information to make better decisions, such as properly disposing of garbage, livestock carcasses, pet food, and other things that might attract bears.<\/p>\n \u00a0While it\u2019s good to have a comprehensive and easily available listing of attacks, Titchener hopes it doesn\u2019t skew people\u2019s perceptions of bears.<\/p>\n \u00a0For every conflict or attack, there are countless instances of bears and people encountering each other, and each going their own way with no harm done, she said.<\/p>\n An International Phenomenon<\/p>\n Dickerson is focusing on North America but acknowledges that human-bear conflicts are becoming more common across the world.<\/p>\n There have been conflicts with brown bears in parts of Europe.<\/p>\n And in Russia, there have been so many attacks this year that officials have sent out \u201csmall armies of shooters\u201d to kill brown bears, he said.<\/p>\n Some in Russia are even calling for criminal investigations of local authorities for \u201cfailing to protect the public from bears,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Bear attacks have gotten so common in Japan that the situation has been described as a \u201cnational health emergency,\u201d Dickerson said.<\/p>\n The country recently deployed the military to help curb human-bear conflicts.<\/p>\n In rural Japan, locals have used firearms to protect villages from bears. They also practice by firing darts at a man dressed in a bear suit. They also get practice by firing darts at a man dressed in bear suits.<\/a><\/p>\n Another fact that might surprise many is that India is also a hot spot for bear attacks, Dickerson noted.<\/p>\n ‘I know the risk.’<\/p>\n Dickerson said he plans to keep his list going this year but isn\u2019t sure if he\u2019ll continue.<\/p>\n Keeping the list refreshed is \u201ca big time sink,” and he wants to keep enjoying the outdoors.<\/p>\n He said he\u2019d recently gone hunting in west Texas, where there are free-ranging elk, and he shot a bull.<\/p>\n Regarding the bigger picture, Dickerson said he\u2019s a staunch supporter of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, which hinges upon public hunting, with oversight by state wildlife agencies.<\/p>\n He hopes his list might help wildlife managers and policymakers.<\/p>\n As for bear attacks, they often boil down to a matter of \u201cbeing in the wrong place at the wrong time,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Going into bear country requires knowledge, respect and caution, but an irrational fear of bears shouldn\u2019t stop people from enjoying the outdoors, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the risk, I accept the risk, and I prepare myself the best I can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mike-3.jpg\")
Texas outdoorsman and outdoor writer Mike Dickerson has created a comprehensive list of bear attacks in North America because no publicly available database exists. (Mike Dickerson)At Least 64 Attacks<\/p>\n