Brown bear and Persian leopard attacks on humans in Iran

Polytrauma Caused by a Bear Attacking a Human with a Benign Outcome

Injuries to humans caused by wild animals, particularly bears, are rarely mentioned in the literature. Such injuries are frequent in Siberia, which is a territory surrounded by dense forests inhabited by brown bears. In the last 4 months alone (September-December 2023), four bear attacks on humans were registered in Khakassia, Russia. This article presents a clinical case of rehabilitating a patient after a bear attack, who suffered multiple fragmentary fractures of the facial skeleton with displaced bone fragments, subcutaneous emphysema of the soft tissues of the face, damage to the parietal and right occipital regions and paranasal sinus hemorrhage on the left side. The nature of the injuries was enhanced by trauma to the upper extremity caused by the patient defending himself against the animal. In addition to the damage to his face, the bear tried to open his cranium, as evidenced by four furrows caused by its canines, including two each on the frontal and occipital bones of the skull. The patient's complex treatment included both maxillofacial and reconstructive surgeries, and outpatient treatment involved the formation of normotrophic scars using a neodymium laser and injections of a heterogeneous composition consisting of microparticles of "crosslinked" collagen of animal origin placed in a gel identical to the natural extracellular matrix.

Factors influencing frequency and severity of human-American black bear conflicts in New York, USA

Free-ranging large carnivores are involved in human-wildlife conflicts which can result in economic costs. Understanding factors that lead to human-wildlife conflicts is important to mitigate these negative effects and facilitate human-carnivore coexistence. We used a human-American black bear (Ursus americanus) conflict database maintained by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to determine whether drought, conflicts within the Adirondack and Catskill Parks as compared to outside of these parks, mild severity (Class 3) conflicts early in the year (April-June), and bear harvest in the previous year (as an index of bear abundance), were associated with greater frequency of high or moderate severity (Class 1-2) conflicts later in the year (July-September) across New York, USA. During 2006-2019, we obtained 3,782 mild severity conflict records early in the year, and 1,042 high or moderate severity records later in the year. We found that a one standard deviation increase in the cumulative precipitation difference from mean early in the year (about 7.59 cm) coincided with a 20% decrease in conflicts, and that Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) within the parks were predicted to have 5.61 times as many high or moderate severity conflicts as WMUs outside the parks. We also found that a one standard deviation increase in the frequency of mild severity conflicts (equivalent to 5.68 conflicts) early in the year coincided with an increase in the frequency of high or moderate severity conflicts in a WMU later in the year by 49%, while a one standard deviation increase in the bear abundance index in the previous year (0.14 bears/10 km2) coincided with a 23% increase in high or moderate severity conflicts. To reduce the frequency and severity of conflicts to facilitate human-black bear coexistence, we recommend the following measures to be taken in place consistently and build over time in local communities: (i) further reducing black bear access to anthropogenic foods and other attractants, (ii) non-lethal measures including bear-resistant waste management, (iii) electric fencing, and (iv) modifying placement or configuration of field crops.

Assessing the spatial-temporal patterns of conflicts between humans and Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) around the Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve, China

Conflicts between humans and Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) are widespread in Asia and pose challenges to human-bear coexistence. Identifying effective mitigation measures requires a thorough understanding of human-bear conflicts (HBC). We assessed spatial-temporal patterns of HBC and their impact factors around the Baoshan Section of the Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve (GNNR) between 2012 and 2020. The results suggested that crop raiding by bears occurred most commonly, followed by beehive loss, livestock depredation, and human casualties. HBC hotspots occurred near the protected area where local people frequently encountered bears. The landscapes with lower elevation and human density were at higher risk of HBC. Furthermore, villages with more fragmented forests or less fragmented croplands were more vulnerable to HBC. The differences in agricultural structures contributed to the diverse composition of HBC between the two regions. In addition, crop raiding by bears decreased significantly, probably due to the changing landscape composition and configuration derived from human behaviors, yet livestock depredation and beehive loss increased. Our findings indicated the complex interrelationship between the environment, bears, and humans, which could guide the implementation of mitigation measures. We recommend multiple approaches based on a social-ecological system to mitigate HBC.