Canadian conservation officers say a man in British Columbia was able to fend off an attacking grizzly bear with his fists. After being knocked off his bicycle by the sow, the man punched the griz square in the face and the bear ran off. It’s not immediately clear when the attack occurred.
CBC News reports that the cyclist was riding by himself on a trail near Anderson Flats Provincial Park when he came out of the woods into a clearing and surprised a sow with two cubs. The bear immediately charged him, knocking him off his bike. He was able to stand and get the bike between himself and the bear, but she kept attacking and swatting at the bike.
B.C. conservation officer Matthew Corbett said that’s when the man reared back and “swung as hard as he could.” The grizzly then ran into the bushes, which allowed the man to get back on his bike and ride back to the trailhead. Corbett said he was not hurt and only received minor injuries during the attack.
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“[The biker] told me that he remembered hearing a story on CBC at some point where a man punched a bear in the nose to get it off him,” Corbett told the news outlet. That 2017 attack involved a juvenile griz and a 57-year-old man with a strong jab. But Corbett said the more recent incident was the first time he’d ever heard of someone punching a grizzly bear.
Corbett, who called the bear attack “unique,” didn’t speak to whether he thought the cyclist made the right decision. The traditional advice that most bear experts give in the case of a grizzly attack is to play dead. The National Park Service also recommends lying flat with your face down, your legs spread, and your hands covering your head and neck.
However, both the NPS and Parks Canada say that if playing opossum doesn’t work and the attack continues, you should “fight back with everything you have.”
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The two agencies break this advice down even further by distinguishing between a “defensive” attack and a “predatory” attack — the latter being exceedingly rare. Most grizzly attacks, including this recent incident in northern B.C., involve bears that are either surprised by humans or protecting their cubs, or both. But Parks Canada says that some defensive attacks, which typically last no more than two minutes, can also turn predatory. Along with the NPS, the agency recommends doing everything you can to escape, and to fight back as a last resort.
“If you cannot escape, do not play dead,” Parks Canada says. “Use your bear spray and FIGHT BACK.”
