2001年度に北海道で発生したヒグマによる人身事件4件

抄録

The first and third incidents occurred while the victims were collecting edible wild plants. The other incidents occurred when the victims were hunting bear. In the first incident, a 42 year old woman was killed instantly by the bear that was protecting its young. In the third incident, the lone eight year old male bear dragged the 53 year old man about ninety meters to a comfortable spot where the bear then proceeded to eat the victim's muscle tissue. These facts suggest that in the third case, the purpose of the bear attack was to eat the man. In the second and fourth incidents, the bear retaliated against being shot by the hunter. In the second incident a 70 year old man was left in a critical condition. In the fourth incident, an 81 year old man was killed instantly. The causes of bear attacks against people can be divided into three general categorys; to eat people, to repel people and to play with people. Three of the incidents are in the category of repelling people, the other incident is in the category of attacking to eat.