Discussion: Bear etiquette

Wasn't that woman supposed to be yelling and shouting and making herself big to scare the bear off? Why was she just standing there talking to it and filming it?

Mostly asking because it seems bears are on the up and I'm wondering if my Yellowstone Grizzly advice doesn't fit for Northeastern black bears!

The woman was behaving in a completely inappropriate manner. Not that she was necessarily in any particular danger herself, but she has now set the bear up to get whacked by the state environmental guys, even though the bear didn't do anything threatening. Basically, bears aren't allowed to interact with people because then there's a bizarre concern that they will get used to people, and subsequently eat them. The simplified model is that there are two kinds of bears: bears that are terrified of people and run away, and bears that are dangerous man-eating predators. By cozying up to the bears, she has promoted them to category 2.

The media description of the bear having followed and circled the woman is completely off-base.

I agree that the woman did not behave appropriately. It seems an unfortunate incident.