MT. NEBO, W.Va. — Black bear attacks like the one that left a Nicholas County man with minor injuries last month are unusual, according to a Division of Natural Resources official.
“The bear incidence attack we had in Nicholas County there we had is an extremely rare attack,” said Chris Ryan, supervisor of game management services. “It just happened in a very enclosed area where the brush is extremely tight to the trail.”
In attempting to avoid black bears, people are encouraged to make sure food sources are inaccessible.
“Of course you know you could always walk upon a bear in the woods, but the majority of those encounters happen whenever food is involved,” Ryan said.
“By keeping all of this food attractions inside, you make sure you keep West Virginia bears wild and in the woods—where they are supposed to be.”
Grizzly bears are far more dangerous, but do not exist in West Virginia.
“Most black bear attacks or encounters actually do not involve the mother of the cubs,” Ryan said. “Most of the time that’s more grizzly bears. Now it obviously can and does happen once in a while. But we have over 10,000 black bears in West Virginia, and obviously a lot of those have cubs and we have no problem with those. But on the other hand, they are wild animals. And we need to treat wild animals like wild animals.”
In the case of the Mt. Nebo area attack, the DNR was unable to locate the bear because there was little physical evidence and the victim didn’t report the attack immediately.