[bear growls] Oh, s---. [screaming] It scrambled down the tree, and that type of speed is real. They can run up to 25 miles an hour. Hey, y'all. I'm Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant. I'm a wildlife ecologist, and I've been studying bears for 13 years. Today we're going to be
looking at bear attacks in movies and on TV and judging how real they are. [bear roars] So, already in this clip, I see the very cinematic trope of a giant brown bear standing up on its hind legs
and roaring at a person. Honestly, in real life,
bears are very quiet. They really don't do a lot of growling. They don't do a lot of roaring. But if there's a territory dispute, two big male alpha bears might actually stand up on their hind legs and roar at each other and fight. But if there's a big
bear and a small person, that bear isn't usually going to go through all that trouble. You saw that big swipe of the ground. That's something that brown
bears and black bears do. In fact, I have experienced a bear do a bluff charge on me, and it is frightening and terrifying. But really, they're just
trying to freak you out so that you back up and walk away and they don't actually
have to attack you. This is great for TV, but it's
not biologically accurate. This bear, even though it looks like it could be 1,000 pounds, it could scale that wall no problem. Those claws could dig into the wood, and it could climb up all the way and then terrorize all those
people that are watching. I'd give it a seven out of 10. I really wish the bear
had climbed up at the end. Let me make it clear. That is what you don't do. Even if it looks like you
might be attacked by a bear, you never run. It's because humans cannot outrun bears. When humans run, it signals to the
predator that you're prey. Like, that's what a little deer would do or a little rabbit would do. But when we stand still, that's so different
than what prey would do that they get the message. No way! Bears, as big and burly as they are, can also get into teeny,
tiny, small spaces. I mean, I've seen bears squeeze themselves into
anything they want. So, again, if it wanted
to hurt him, it would. This is interesting. So, we see that they made a ring of fire, and that's their tactic
of protecting themselves. First, no one should ever do
this in the wilderness. OK? It will start a forest fire. But, two, there really
is something to this, and that's that most wild
animals are afraid of fire. It's just something that they
haven't experienced, right? They can't make fire themselves. So as much as I don't want
anyone to ever use this tactic, I believe it would be
effective to keep you safe. How are we going to lure him? Blood! Did you see him? "Blood!" That's not going to work. OK? So, bears are driven by hunger. Blood does not necessarily signal this is something to eat, right? A bear wants to smell something delicious. It wants to smell honey. It wants to smell rotting meat. I think they're getting
this from the shark thing, like, sharks are drawn to blood. It's not the same with bears. So, this is actually something
that we use in real life. If we want to lure a bear to something, maybe we set up a little trail cam and we want to get information
on the individual bear, we'll put out what we call a scent rag. And so it looks just like that, like a little piece of cloth, and we'll put some kind of scent on it. We could literally use,
like, vanilla extract. They'll come right to that
rag to see what it is. Is it realistic that that bear might come looking for you again because you are still in its territory and haven't left? Yes. However, is it realistic that a bear is going
to attack over and over when there's two or more people? No. So, bear attacks happen usually when there's just one
person by themselves. If you have two or
more, it rarely happens, which is another way
that people can be safe when they recreate in nature. It did look real, but the probability of something like this actually taking place, like, I'm going to give this a five out of 10. The first shot we see of the
bear is of its claws, right? Those are real claws. They did a great job modeling that. It looks like a real animal. And then the other thing we see
is the bear sniffing, right? Meh. Bears' sense of smell is so precise and can go across such a long distance that they're not going to be
sniffing around for a person when they're literally 2 feet from them. Bears can't climb trees. Of course they can! This little kid just said, "We're safe, 'cause bears
can't climb trees," right? Already I'm like, "Oh, no!" Like, they're doomed. Bears are the best tree climbers. Henry, move! Go higher! He's kicking downward with his leg. If you ever find yourself above a bear on a tree, you should do that. But climbing higher? No, no, no, no, no. There's a phrase out there, when it comes to bear attacks, "If it's black, fight back; if it's brown, lay down." And it's important to note that this is for bear attacks. This is not for bear encounters. Even if a bear is near you, even if it's approaching you rapidly, that's still not an attack until it's actually
physically touching you. That is a really important difference, because if a bear is not attacking you, that's when you back away slowly, you make yourself look big. If it is attacking you,
the kid did it right. But the whole time, also
try to get out of there. Oh, s---. Ah! It scrambled down the tree, and that type of speed is real. So, the bear first slowly
went up to get the boy. Of course it can do that. But the way it practically
leapt onto the second tree and scaled it in a second, that's really, when a
bear wants something, I mean, they can run
up to 25 miles an hour. Also, it should be said
that bears don't do drugs. It is totally hypothetical
what a bear would do if it was on tons and tons of cocaine. But this movie is loosely
based off of a true story. But there was a bear in the '80s, I believe it was 1985, that was found dead after ingesting a big amount of cocaine that was dropped from an airplane. But in general, overdoses can kill animals just like they can kill people, and that's what happened
to the real cocaine beer. The only thing that I saw in this clip that wasn't so accurate
is that they're really not that interested in
attacking people, right? Especially black bears. Black bears are the least predatory of all the bear species. They mostly have a vegetarian diet. They love their fruit,
they love their nuts. Another thing people should know is that bears do not eat people. Sometimes it's happened, like, really, really rarely, but they do not prey on humans. If a bear is attacking someone, it's really because they
perceive that person as a threat. I would give it, like, a six out of 10. I can't imagine a bear
ever leaving one person to go attack another person for drugs. [bear groans] [bear growling] Oh, oh, oh! That's real. Right behind him comes
what's gotta be mama bear. The female bear raises her cubs, and she dedicates her
life to keeping them safe. This guy was technically
just standing there. But because he was between
the bear and her cub, she sees that as a threat,
and she ran right through him. So, we often tell people who are recreating in the wilderness, do not physically come between
a female bear and her cub. Even if you notice a bear cub on its own and you do not see the mama, get away from there immediately. You are in danger. OK? They lose their mind,
and they just attack. [Hugh screaming] So, it's actually really, really accurate the way that they showed the attack. The way that the bear
uses her teeth the most -- like, she does a little
bit of paw stuff -- she uses those parts of her the most because they're the most effective. And, again, she's not trying
to get a bite to eat, right? If she wanted to eat him, she would use her claws to tear him apart. But instead, she just wants to have those fatal bites to keep her cubs safe. But the biggest myth that
the media shows about bears is that they're always on the attack. In some of the national
parks that have bears, take Yellowstone National Park, your chances of a bear attack are something like one in 2 million. So, truly, bears are
peaceful. They're docile. And with that said, don't bother them, don't frustrate them,
and don't trigger them, because if you do, you
might be in trouble. [Hugh grunting] Like, at this exact spot, I wish the character knew to play dead. Because this is a brown bear, sometimes called grizzly bears, and with that species it's
really important to play dead. 'Cause if he just played dead right there, it's more likely that she would, like, nudge him a little bit
more just to make sure and then walk away. But he's, like, still making a little bit of noise, and it's telling her,
"Nope, he's still alive. He could still be a threat." This is giving me anxiety. He shot her and then
she just attacked more, 'cause she's like, "See, I was right. It just tried to hurt me. I'm just going to kill it
and rip it to pieces now." So I can understand having a weapon and wanting to kill it and
fight back for your life. But, again, you're safer playing dead until he can no longer hear
or see the bear or her cub. Honestly, I'd give this
one a 10 out of 10. It's, believe it or not, a CGI bear, but they really got it right. How did you get up there? I don't know. Of course pandas don't
really do the splits, but they are flexible. All the little YouTube videos you see of pandas in captivity rolling around and being cute, they really do have very flexible bodies although they're chubby and fat. I now see that the way
to get through to you is with this. Oh, great. Realistic that they would
want to eat a lot of food, but would they eat
delicious Chinese pork buns? I don't think so. However, a lot of people
don't realize that pandas, although they're vegetarians and some might think they're herbivores, they're actually still carnivores. Pandas have the gut
microbiome to digest meat, meaning they have the bacterial
community in their bodies to break down meat and
synthesize it for energy. So that means that it's possible that ancient pandas were carnivores and ate meat all the time, and probably if they
wanted to they still could. So, you know, this panda
is learning martial arts, which is atypical for wild pandas, but believe it or not, pandas can fight. Pandas have claws and they have fangs, long fangs that could rip
through tissue really easily. So they have the physical structure to be very, very aggressive
and violent if they want to. I love this movie, but I have to give it a one out of 10. [bears roaring] I'm always happy to see polar bears. They're awesome. They are not only the largest of all eight bear species, they are also the largest
carnivore on the planet, and they are very aggressive. So to have a very violent interaction between two alpha male
polar bears is realistic. They're not going to have, like, an audience of other polar bears. Maybe if there's a big common food source, they would congregate together. Other than that, they're not
really cooperating like that. The other thing that
we wouldn't really see in a polar bear-polar bear fight is the running and slamming together. Usually when they're fighting they approach each other slowly, they'll do all the bluff
charges to each other, and then they'll get up on their hind legs and start fighting. But they won't kind of
knock each other back and then run at each other together again. They don't eat people,
they don't eat each other, but they're more likely to
be extremely aggressive. Polar bears are what we call
obligate carnivores, right? So that means they just want
to hunt and kill and eat, and because of that it
impacts their behavior. They often say, like, "If it's white, goodnight." It means that if you are in
an attack with a polar bear, it's not looking good. As well done as the art was, I would give it, like, a two out of 10. Bear fight! I think it goes without saying that this is extremely exaggerated. The bear was, like, slapping back, and that was actually kind of realistic. In fact, it doesn't take
a lot of energy for them to slap you across the face. But punching a bear in the face is just a really great
way to irritate them and to get them to really hurt you. Hey, Ron, I'm riding a furry tractor! You can't ride a bear. It's kind of worth explaining
that over the years bears have been used in circuses and entertainment capacity. Don't train wild animals. There's a lot of ethics around this. Probably bear riding has been a thing. But these days, you're not really going
to find it anywhere. I would give it, again, like, a three out of 10. [bear growling]
Oh, f---. Oh! Ah! That's something that every
camper is worried about. If they're camping in a
place where bears could be, bears will smell something
good in your tent and will come looking for it. So, it looks like she just
uncapped her bear spray. Really glad to see that. Bear spray is something that I have on me at all times whenever
I'm in the wilderness. It can save your life. Ooh! This is where this woman went wrong. Bear spray is completely, 100% ineffective when you're in close
proximity with the bear. It's just going to aggravate
it and make it attack you. You use it when there's
a bear in the distance. Bear spray is pepper spray, but it's not the same kind of pepper spray that we use to keep ourselves safe. It is extremely powerful, and it shoots at a long distance. So if you sprayed bear spray in your tent, you would not be able to breathe. You wouldn't be able to see. You would be incapacitated. You have to do it in the open, and then you have to get
yourself out of there. So what they should have done is, at the beginning of the
clip, unzip the tent, spray the bear spray, zip it back up, and wait a few minutes
and see what happens. That one was intense. It would have to have so
many interactions with humans that it learns a behavior
to become a killer, like a deliberate predator of humans. Also, the bear-spray situation
could have saved them way before the attack actually happened. I wish they had just deployed
the bear spray the right way. I wanted to give it,
like, a nine out of 10, 'cause I was like,
camping, black bear, fear, like, that all makes sense. But then in terms of how aggressive and how murderous that bear was, I want to give it, like, a four out of 10. Oh, my God, what is that? Kind of has the humps
and lumps of a bear, ish. We can see it has this
extended kind of snout, almost like a horse head,
and then a more flat head. Black bear will either
have the extended snout but then a proper hump for head, or a brown bear or a grizzly bear has more of the flattened
face and a much rounder head. It's all over the place. One of the things that
I'm also noticing is that, looks like there's places
where it's missing fur and just has raw skin. And believe it or not, this
is actually kind of accurate, because there are times when bears can be very
susceptible to mange, the same mange that dogs can get. So it's possible that a mangy bear influenced this animal here. OK, I'm going to give it a one out of 10. Like, that wasn't even a real animal. My favorite bear show is a show that I've actually been in, and I don't think it's fair to really toot my own horn right here, so I will say that my
second-favorite bear show was "Yogi Bear." And it was mostly about
this bear named Yogi who lived in a national park and would steal people's picnic baskets. But it's kind of realistic, right? Like, bears are in a lot of
America's national parks, and they love our food. That's something that humans
and bears have in common. Thanks for watching. If you liked this video, why
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