[bert]

I see no mention of species.

The efficacy must also be sorted out by species

[old school]

I reckon all bears, given the right circumstances, will kill you and eat you. But, the big Brown Bears of the northern hemisphere seem to be particularly ill-tempered.

[marktwain]

As I recall, the Efficacy of bear deterrent spray in Alaska was heavy on black bears.

The Efficacy of Firearms for Deterrence of Bears in Alaska was heavy on grizzly bears.

[marktwain]

Here are the numbers for the Smith and Herrero Bear Spray and Firearms studies in Alaska:

Bear spray: Black bear 20, Brown bear 24, Polar bear 2. Total incidents 72. (obviously, some of the bears were involved in more than one incident). 21 of the incidents involved bear management people hazing problem bears.

Firearms: Black bear 30, Brown bear 218, Polar bear 6, unknown 15. Total incidents: 269, no bears more than once, no management hazing.

So, of the cases where the species were known:

Spray paper: black bear were 43%, brown and polar were 56%.

Firearms paper: Black bear were 12%, brown and polar were 88%.