Charges pending for man who waded into river full of bears for selfie

ABC7 ^ | 8/`17/18 | Staff

[Rebelbase]

Youtube video: Ignorant human being putting his life and bears lives in danger Brooks Falls Alaska 2018 08 09

Brook Falls in Katmai Park, AK. There is a viewing platform safely elevated for tourists to watch the bears feeding on salmon which is the point of view from which the video of the idiot was taken.

The man was part of a group of three people who NPS said entered a closed area of Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska earlier this month. Explore.org's popular Bear Cam captured the man as he waded into water knee-deep while five bears fed in the river nearby. After snapping his selfie, the man remained in the river for approximately 90 more seconds, taking photos and observing the bears before he returned to the shore.

It's not clear if the bears, who were feeding at the time, noticed the man.

People watching the webcam did notice the man, though, and they contacted park rangers to report his behavior. Rangers made contact with the man and are finalizing charges against the group, whose identities have not been released.

[dainbramaged]

I guess that idiot didn’t see “Grizzly Man”.

[Blue Jays]

"...bears lives in danger..."

---

Undoubtedly moronic of the people who waded into the river...yet cannot see how bears lives were “put in danger” by these nitwits.

[FatherofFive]

That was not smart. But how was he endangering the bears? Stealing their fish? Make them laugh and choke on lunch?

[bankwalker]

[Blue Jays]

GMTA! We were posting same thought about 20 seconds apart. :-)

[Dana1960]

sounds like Tim Treadwell.

(warning) Live audio of his Darwin test and his naive gf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhi-gBIJhAU

[Rebelbase]

“Did he win a Malt Liquor Beer”

More likely that was his pregame warm up.

[Gargantua]

"... cannot see how bears lives were “put in danger”..."

If a bear kills a human, the bear is killed. By giving the bears a chance to attack him, he was needlessly putting them in mortal danger.

[Rebelbase]

“But how was he endangering the bears? “

Had a bear attacked him it would have to be put down.

[FreeReign]

Undoubtedly moronic of the people who waded into the river...yet cannot see how bears lives were “put in danger” by these nitwits.

Perhaps there was somebody there waiting to shoot the bear if the bear attacked the guy.

[Magnum44]

Your reply makes a lot of sense. If the bears are happy eating fish, all is well. If the get the taste for humans, then Fish and Wildlife probably has to put them down.

[V_TWIN]

That reminds me of a Ron White joke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UMWndnqyFE

[samtheman]

That was not smart. But how was he endangering the bears? Stealing their fish? Make them laugh and choke on lunch?
—
I agree. The law says something about interfering with the feeding of bears feeding on a “concentrated food source”. So it’s better to interfere with them eating blueberries.

Anyway, the law is the law and the idiot is an idiot on 2 levels: physical safety and legal awareness. How could he not wonder about the legality of that move?

[FatherofFive]

GMTA! We were posting same thought about 20 seconds apart. :-)

Yeah, I saw that! But others noted that if the bear killed the guy, bear is put down. That is sad.

[Nifster]

Man is a complete idiot and lucky no bear saw him

[Blue Jays]

"...bear is killed..."

---

If there is actually someone sitting on sniper duty they should just fire warning shots....at the dumb men! ;-)

[raybbr]

They weren’t. This is the nanny state writ large. The idea that he harassed or even momentarily affected the bears is absurd.

[Jaded]

Exactly.

[arrogantsob]

Too bad they weren’t Sea Bears.

[dfwgator]

Too bad they weren’t Sea Bears.