A man from B.C.’s Lower Mainland is being praised for his cool-headed response to a charging bear – after video of the tense encounter went viral online, with tens of millions of views.
Coquitlam resident Alex Gold said he was unloading groceries when the animal wandered into his open garage last Wednesday, which led to the startling confrontation.
“I came back to my car and I bumped into the bear,” Gold said. “She was kind of hissing.”
Security video Gold posted on Instagram shows the animal charging at him multiple times, as Gold claps his hands and slowly backs away, pinned between the bear and his parked SUV.
“No, no, no,” Gold tells the animal.
He eventually managed to get inside the vehicle, where he honked his horn to scare the animal –and a cub that appears toward the end of the video – away from the property.
Gold’s video has been viewed more than 36 million times since last week, generating much discussion about how to best react when face-to-face with a bear.
“I’d have handled it a lot better. I’d have scared him off with the smell of my soiled pants,” one Instagram commenter joked.
Gold told CTV News his family is used to seeing bears in the area, and that the situation happened so fast he didn’t have time to get frightened.
Lisa Lopez of the non-profit WildSafeBC said the Coquitlam resident did a “great job” of reacting to an incredibly stressful situation, stressing the importance of retreating slowly.
“The important thing to always remember is to not run,” Lopez said. “Because then it could become a predator-prey kind of situation.”
Lopez described the bear’s behaviour as defensive, likely because the animal was worried about being trapped in an enclosed space, or about the safety of its cub. The bear used what are known as “bluff charges” to scare Gold off rather than attacking him.
Lopez noted that the bear “comes to a stop just before contact,” giving Gold an opportunity to move along. Had he stood his ground, the bear might have escalated and become more aggressive, Lopez said.
Experts warn that bears are already preparing for hibernation at this time of year – packing on as many pounds as possible before winter – which means it’s especially important to secure garbage and other attractants in bear-adjacent areas.
“Their noses are their best tool and they can smell things from a kilometre away,” Lopez said. “It’s probably a good idea to try to close your doors as often as you can – garage doors included.”
The recommendations for responding to bear encounters differ depending on the animal’s behaviour, which is why B.C. Parks recommends staying calm and deciding your next move, if possible.
More specific advice on reacting to different kinds of encounters is available online.
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson