Why you play dead for a grizzly, not a black bear

Playing dead can save you from one bear. With the other, it's the worst move you could make. 🐻 Official U.S. National Park Service advice, in full: • Grizzly/brown bear that makes contact in a defensive attack: play dead (flat on your stomach, hands behind your neck, keep your pack on). If the attack continues, fight back. • Black bear: don't play dead. Escape to a car or building if you can; if not, fight back. • Any bear that stalks you or comes into your tent: fight back. • Bear spray works during the charge: use it when the bear is about 60 feet away or less. Sources: • U.S. National Park Service – Staying Safe Around Bears: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm • U.S. National Park Service – Bear Attacks: https://www.nps.gov/articles/bearattacks.htm • Alaska Department of Fish and Game – Bear safety in bear country: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livingwithbears.bearcountry • Journal of Wildlife Management (Smith, Herrero, DeBruyn & Wilder, 2008) – Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska: https://doi.org/10.2193/2006-452 Images (Wikimedia Commons): • Katmai National Park Brown Bear 2.jpg — Reweaver33 — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katmai_National_Park_Brown_Bear_2.jpg • Grizzly bear Yellowstone National Park May 2017 (cropped).jpg — NPS/Jim Peaco — Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grizzly_bear_Yellowstone_National_Park_May_2017_(cropped).jpg • Grizzly Bear- Sow and cubs (5728173840).jpg — Denali National Park and Preserve — Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grizzly_Bear-_Sow_and_cubs_(5728173840).jpg • Close up american black bear face.jpg — Traylor Waverley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Close_up_american_black_bear_face.jpg • Black bear sitting upright at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee and North Carolina (d846aeb0-01e0-4bb5-801c-d6bb26d13f85).jpg — NPS staff — Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_bear_sitting_upright_at_Great_Smoky_Mountains_National_Park,_Tennessee_and_North_Carolina_(d846aeb0-01e0-4bb5-801c-d6bb26d13f85).jpg • Black bears in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (2654136614).jpg — Mark Ordonez from Schaumburg, IL, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_bears_in_Great_Smoky_Mountains_National_Park_(2654136614).jpg • Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps (YCC)- Practicing using inert bear spray (53864143564).jpg — YellowstoneNPS — Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yellowstone_Youth_Conservation_Corps_(YCC)-_Practicing_using_inert_bear_spray_(53864143564).jpg • Bear attack deterrent spray.jpg — Arne Nordmann (norro) — CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bear_attack_deterrent_spray.jpg • Information board and payment station (e79c06b0-1dd8-b71b-0b18-d69998b33493).jpg — NPS photo — Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Information_board_and_payment_station_(e79c06b0-1dd8-b71b-0b18-d69998b33493).jpg • Black bear, May 2015--Warren Bielenberg (40156718781).jpg — Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Gatlinburg, TN — Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_bear,_May_2015--Warren_Bielenberg_(40156718781).jpg Video: • "Pixabay video 236883 (bear, brown bear, predator)" – NickyPe, Pixabay Content License: https://pixabay.com/videos/id-236883/ Voice: generated with ElevenLabs (elevenlabs.io). Music: "Frame-Dragging" – The Grey Room / Density & Time; "Deep Space Sector 9" – Ezra Lipp (YouTube Audio Library). #shorts #funfact #notsofunfact #facts #bear #grizzly #blackbear