MonsterQuest: Giant Bear Attack (S2, E15) | Full Episode | History

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- An apex predator found in nearly every state and province across North America. But are bears now growing to monstrous sizes? - His claws could probably just rip your face off. - Strange reports suggest that bears are losing their natural fear of man. - They're in people's backyards while they're having barbecues. They're at children's bus stops. - When the bear was biting on my head I could feel pops and cracking from the bones. - Prehistoric bears, once the largest and most dangerous of all land predators. - I don't think they feared anything. - Is history repeating itself? Monsterquest treks deep into the Alaskan wild, origin of monster bear reports... and investigates a town under siege, in of all places, New Jersey. - Somebody's going to die if something's not done. - Witnesses around the world report seeing monsters. Are they real or imaginary? Science searches for answers on Monsterquest. Alaska, known as the last frontier, is the largest of all the US states. With over 650,000 square miles, large swaths of this hostile and remote environment remain unexplored. This would make it the perfect habitat for a monstrous creature to move about undetected. - His intentions are to kill and to eat you! - It was 1,450 pounds. - His paw's about as wide as my chest. His claws are long, you know. It's like, man, what that could do to you. - I had 200 stitches, staples and sutures in my head. - Eyewitnesses describe brown bears that weigh close to a ton and that when standing on 2 feet would be more than twice the height of the average man. The creatures have massive jaws capable of crushing bones and lethal, razor-sharp claws able to scalp a man in a single blow. [ Growling ] The first prehistoric bears arrived in Alaska some 20 million years ago from Eurasia. And with them came the largest land carnivore that had ever, or since, existed. The giant short-faced bear was big enough to hunt horses and was a true terror. - I don't think they feared anything. - Dr. Blaine Schubert is one of the world's leading experts on giant short-faced bears. - This had to deal with an animal with a skull like this. To humans, these animals would have been really dangerous. - Weighing in at 2,000 pounds and standing 14 feet on its hind legs, the giant short-faced bear was a monstrous-looking beast. But this prehistoric monster is thought to have gone extinct during the last ice age, leaving only fossil remains of their once unchallenged reign. There have been several ice ages in the history of the Earth. The last began about 70,000 years ago and ended 10,000 years ago, right around the time the giant short-faced bear was thought to have died out. But if brown, black and polar bears survived the last ice age, could the giant short-faced bear, or one of its descendants, also have survived somewhere in this remote landscape? - DR. BLAINE SCHUBERT, Paleontologist, East Tennessee State University: I would say that there's, you know, perhaps, a 1% chance that you could have an animal like this out there somewhere. - There may still be something very important hiding in the bear world waiting for us to find it. - Matt Bille is an author and researcher specializing in cryptozoology. He believes that mysterious bears still roam these arctic plains. - MATT BILLE, Science Writer, Cryptozoologist: Some reports we hear might concern surviving prehistoric bears. That's a scientific mystery that needs to be examined because the ramifications are potentially very large. - It's what nightmares are made out of. - Jim Oltersdorf is a professional wildlife photographer. He's been exploring the Alaskan wilderness for many years. - JIM OLTERSDORF, Guide/Wildlife Photographer: Out in this stuff, somewhere, there's a bear that has yet to be discovered that is much bigger than what's on the books right now, you bet. - But not everyone agrees. - It's like the campfire boogeyman. People like to scare each other when they're out camping telling horror stories about bears. - John Hechtel is a retired wildlife biologist. He has been studying bears for over 30 years. During that time, he's seen many unusual specimens, but none, he says, that can't be explained. - JOHN HECHTEL, Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish and Game: As a scientist, you tend to think always in terms of the simplest explanation. And the simplest explanation to me, for most of this stuff, is there's a lot of variability in bears. - What might be a very important piece of the bear puzzle is stored in the vaults of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions. - One of the great mysteries of the bear world is called MacFarlane's bear. [ Growling ] MacFarlane's bear was killed in 1864 by Native hunters in Canada. MacFarlane shipped the skull and the skin of this particular bear to the Smithsonian Institution. They rested there until 1918 when the great zoologist, C. Hart Merriam, started a reevaluation of the bears of North America. When Merriam came across this particular bear, he thought the skull and the teeth were very unusual. He felt that this was so outside of the brown-bear range that this animal was not a brown bear at all. Merriam speculated that it might come from an ancient line of descent, something that included the Tremarctinae bears, of which the best known is the giant short-faced bear. He created a new genus for the species he called Vetularctos inopinatus, which means the ancient, unexpected bear. - Could MacFarlane have discovered the remains of a giant short-faced bear nearly 10,000 years after it was supposed to have died out? And is there a link between these prehistoric predators and sightings of monster-sized bears? - He just walked across the log like it was a toothpick. - In October 2001, 22-year-old Ted Winnen was moose hunting on Hinchinbrook Island on the Gulf of Alaska when he came face to face with a giant. [ Growling ] - [Winnen]: We were following this creek and we happened upon some tracks. So we decided to follow these tracks because they looked pretty heavy-footed, so we thought it might be a mature animal. THEODORE A. WINNEN JR., Hunter: Right away, I noticed next to this big pine tree that there was this spot, like, looks like something had been laying down there. And my partner was examining it a little bit closer, and I just kind of popped my head up and just wanted a look. That's when I first see the bear. He was probably about 40 yards away. I quickly latch on to Jim and yank him to the ground with me, immediately threw the gun up. He came, and he was probably about 10 yards away. His head was just absolutely massive. My partner's yelling: "Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!" I go ahead and put the crosshairs right on his eye and squeeze the first round. And I shot, shot, emptied the gun, went ahead and reloaded and shot a couple of more times. It was a total of, like, 6 shots. I wasn't going to stop until I didn't see him move. - In this picture, we see its massive paws, close to 12 inches wide. The bear was 11 feet tall and weighed 1,200 pounds. This giant was said to be 3 times bigger than the average-sized bear on Hinchinbrook Island, where the bear was shot. - Every once in a while, you get these enormous bears. You get these 1,200 pound, 1,400 pound bears. And it's very interesting to wonder whether they are expressing some ancient genes that go back to the Ice Age in these individuals. - Yeah, there are odd-looking bears around, you know. There's variation in size, and probably even the occasional equivalent of a 7'5 human being, you know, a bear that's really large, compared to the average bears around, but that's just a function of the natural variability. - But reports of bears 3 times bigger than the average suggests that something other than a variation in species might be going on. MacFarlane's bear is classified as a holotype, meaning it is the first collected specimen of a species. Very few people are granted permission to examine holotypes. But Dr. Blaine Schubert, as curator of the East Tennessee State University Natural Science Museum, will be granted access to examine MacFarlane's bear. While Dr. Schubert awaits his appointment at the Smithsonian, he will fly to Alaska and team up with Jim Oltersdorf. If the giant short-faced bear or a mysterious descendent does exist, this is the most likely place to find it. - Some of the largest individuals are actually from Alaska. - They'll head off to the Kenai Peninsula. It has one of the highest concentrations of big bears anywhere in the world. They will search for evidence of abnormally large or unusual looking bears. And they will try to measure and weigh those bears by setting up a graded bait system right over an electronic scale. Normally used to weigh large farm animals, this rugged piece of equipment should be perfect for giant-sized bears. - Looks fine to me. - So together, we're like one really small bear. - With the bears just out of their dens and desperately looking for food, Jim and Blaine are going to play a game of hide and seek with the world's largest land carnivores. - Alaska: home to some of the world's biggest bears. But could these arctic plains also harbour a monster? A Monsterquest expedition is searching for proof. But strange bear reports are not restricted to Alaska. This astonishing home video was shot in April 2008 by Charles Rossi, a resident of Lake Wanda, New Jersey. Lake Wanda is just 45 minutes away from Manhattan. Here, the bears have literally taken over. - I've never seen anything like this in my life. - Experienced hunter and outdoorsman Eric Bunk is New Jersey born and bred. He has been monitoring the situation for the past several years. - ERIC BUNK, Hunter: Well, our bear population now has become very used to humans through garbage and association with food of outdoor grills, dog food. Because once they lose their fear of humans, and their food sources come together and become one and they see people as being a source of food, that's when you have a problem. - For the residents of Lake Wanda, their peaceful suburban community is suddenly bear territory. And that is a frightening prospect. - Here he was. You can see where he was digging in. - Bill Laverty has been living here for 8 years. - BILL LAVERTY, Bear Witness: You could be sitting up here having a barbecue and next you know he's gonna smell it, and who's coming for dinner? Nothing stops them. If they want in your house, they will get in your house. - In recent months, there has been a dramatic increase in bear activity around Lake Wanda. - On the side here. - Monsterquest teams up with Eric Bunk as he investigates these recent sightings and encounters. - And as you see here, the bear put his paws right up on here and was looking right to get in this window. And this is someone's home here. He could have been right in there. - But on the other side of the continent, Alaska is home to the world's biggest bears. And some reports suggest that it could also be home to something that defies classification, some kind of bear-like monster that might have survived the last ice age. Eyewitnesses say the creatures are 12 feet tall, weighing as much as a small car. Paleontologist Blaine Schubert and wildlife photographer Jim Oltersdorf are off to the Alaskan wilderness, looking for giant bears. They are going to the Kenai Peninsula, where the biggest Alaskan brown bears can be found. - Just turn your wheel! She'll come around. You're good. Keep on coming! Keep your wheels that way. She'll float right off as soon as you get deep enough. - All right! - Zipped up and ready to go? - Ready to go. - To reach base camp, Jim and Blaine will have to cross Skilak Lake. - This is a big lake. It's about 15 miles long. So you got white caps out there, and it's picking up. Right at 12:00! You see that? - Yeah! - But he's not moving a great deal. I believe that's a bear, though. - It is! - Jim and Blaine just caught a glimpse of their first bear, but chances are the bear has also seen them. - [Schubert]: I think anybody who comes into bear country and they're not a little bit nervous, there's probably something wrong with that individual. - JIM OLTERSDORF, Guide/Wildlife Photographer: The largest bear I've ever seen was approximately 10 feet tall. You could tell he was a dominant just by the gesture of the glance. By his body language, he was simply saying: "Stay away "from me and you'll be OK. Push "me one more inch by getting "just that one inch closer, I'm going to do you some damage." All right! - All right! We're out here by ourselves now. That's it. - The scientific community has firmly established that there are 8 species of bears throughout the world. But in 2006, American hunter Jim Martell was in the Northwest Territories when he shot and killed a bear that shocked the scientific world. The creature had the creamy white fur of a polar bear, but it also had long, razor- sharp claws, a humped back and brown patches around its eyes, characteristics normally associated with grizzly bears. DNA tests confirmed it; it was the first ever polar/grizzly hybrid born in the wild. The bear was dubbed "The Pizzly" by the media and was the last thing that bear researchers and biologists could ever have expected. Geneticist David Paetkau is a world-leading expert on wildlife DNA. He analyzed and confirmed the hybrid bear shot by Martell. - DAVID PAETKAU, President, Wildlife Genetics International: When species that are relatively diverged mate back together, you're bringing together copies of genes that haven't seen each other for millions of years or so. - The wild hybrid has some people wondering if interbreeding between bear species could have been occurring unnoticed for thousands of years. - I mean, if this had happened even in the 80s, we would not have had these really elegant molecular tools available to us to answer this question. - We can no longer say that it won't happen because it already has happened. - Alaska Fish and Wildlife biologist Scott Schliebe is a world-renowned polar bear expert. - SCOTT SCHLIEBE, Polar Bear Project Leader, US Fish and Wildlife Service: It's made us try to rethink, you know, the paradigm that we used to operate under. I don't know what that means in the long run. I'm not sure if these chance encounters would happen to the degree where it would play a role in the species structure. - All 8 species of living bears come from the same family: the Ursidae. The spectacled bear and the giant panda diverged from this lineage approximately 12 million years ago. The sloth bear lineage diverged 7 million years ago, followed closely by the Asiatic black bear and the American black bear. The sun bear diverged from the lineage approximately 5 million years ago. The last divergence occurred approximately 400,000 years ago, when the polar bear diverged from the brown bear. The brown bear species called Ursus arctos also produced subspecies like the grizzly bear. Brown bears and grizzly bears are essentially the same animal that diverged geographically. Brown bears live within 200 miles of the coast while grizzlies are found inland. The coastal brown bears feed on salmon. They are bigger and more carnivorous than the grizzlies. Brown bears can get as big as 1,600 pounds and can kill a moose with a single bite. These omnivores are considered to be the most aggressive of all bears. The polar bears can get even bigger and reach almost 2,000 pounds. Although normally not as aggressive towards humans as the brown bear, they are essentially carnivores. When they do attack, they are ferocious killing machines. Their respective territories are quite different, but they do intersect from time to time. So, if hybridization has been occurring for centuries, could it explain the unusual sightings? One thing is certain; a bear with the strength of a polar and the aggression of a grizzly would be a formidable killer. [ Roaring ] - You'd have a carnivorous bear with enormous strength. It would be a very scary thing. - One wonders if such a creature could migrate to the southern end of the grizzly's range, which reaches as far south as Wyoming. In Alaska, Blaine Schubert and Jim Oltersdorf are setting up camp a few miles away from the Kenai River, where the biggest Alaskan brown bears feed on salmon. Once the tents are up, Jim and Blaine surround them with an electrical fence. - Yeah, that looks good. - Do you use the same voltage you would for cattle? - Yeah, it's exactly the same. The important thing is we can't let them droop on the ground, so we'll just get it squared and then we'll... - Pull them out. - Yeah. - It will not stop an enraged bear from charging the Monsterquest camp, but it should deter a curious bear. - It looks like it's working. - You bet. I'm gonna sleep a whole lot better tonight. How about you? - Oh, yeah. At least until I hear that zap! - As an added security measure, they also put up an early warning system, an audio alarm hooked up to an infrared motion detector. - Hey, Blaine! You wanna come over and take a walk through to see if this will work, please? [ Alarm sounding ] - All right, it's working. - Hey! It works. - If the bear they spotted on the way in comes up the beach during the night, everyone will know about it. The team is justified in their precautions. Recently, unusual bear sightings have caught bear biologists and Native Alaskans completely off guard. [ Growling ] - 10,000 years ago, the giant short-faced bear was a monstrous predator. It was a carnivorous bear 5 times the size of a lion and could outrun a horse. Nothing would make it back down from a fight. Today, evidence of unusual-looking bears and chilling behaviour are reported across North America, suggesting that bears as unusual as these are still among us. In March 2008, an unusual- looking bear was spotted in the Native American village of Fort Yukon in Alaska's Yukon Flats. Villagers reported seeing a mysterious white-coloured bear hanging around the town dump and showing no fear of man. No one in Fort Yukon had ever seen anything other than black or brown bears. Paul Herbert for the Yukon Flats, this is KZPA 900 on your AM dial in Fort Yukon, Alaska. - Paul Herbert, a local radio DJ, was one of the hunters who went after the strange-looking beast thinking it must be a snow-covered grizzly. [ Growling ] - Herbert was armed with an M16, but a white-coloured bear in snow is hard to spot. The hunters got to within 50 feet of the animal without seeing it. - And suddenly, without warning, the creature charged the hunters. These are photos of the bear they killed. On closer inspection, it became apparent to the hunters that this was not what they expected. Its pelt was not ice-covered. It had short claws and no grizzly-like back hump. This animal had all the physical characteristics of a regular polar bear. - Could a polar bear have made it this far inland? - They're not found beyond 25 miles from sea. - Or was it something else entirely? Fort Yukon is more than 250 miles from the coast. That's 10 times the normal range of polar bears. This bear was so far off its normal feeding ground that it raised questions about its origins. Could this bear be "Pizzly #2"? - SCOTT SCHLIEBE, Polar Bear Project Leader, US Fish and Wildlife Service: We've obtained a tooth for aging. We don't have an age yet. We've also sent specimen material in to see if this bear is genetically a pure polar bear or a hybrid. We're anxious to hear what the result of that analysis is. - Each year, more and more people come face to face with wild bears, and they are reporting alarming behaviours. Bears are exhibiting a disturbing boldness, apparently losing some of their natural fear of man. In Lake Wanda, New Jersey, barely 45 minutes from Manhattan, peaceful neighbourhoods are being invaded by bears to a point where people are afraid to step out of their houses. - They're huge! There's no stopping them. - Melissa Mead and her family have been living in Lake Wanda for 6 years. - MELISSA MEAD, Bear Witness: A bear comes into my yard and wants to get at my children, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. [ Barking ] The dogs don't matter to them. What do you do? What do you do? The only thing I can do is throw myself in front of my children and hope that they make it in the house. - Eric Bunk is a hunter who believes that the problem is getting worse. - ERIC BUNK, Hunter: Here we have a dumpster, which is only about 20 yards away from where children were playing at a daycare centre. And here we have major bear activity, in bending up the lid and the destruction that it caused on this heavy gate. It just tore it apart. This is a post that was actually snapped off by the bear. And you're looking at a post here that's pretty large! This just shows the power and strength of a bear. And this is where children are playing. This is a daycare centre! - But these bears have not always been this brazen. - They used to take off if you even opened the door. Or they heard the dog bark, they would take off. Now, they own my yard. I don't own it anymore. - There's been a massive change in bear behaviour over the last couple of years because bears are getting bolder. They're moving into residential areas. They're not afraid of people anymore, and this is becoming a real problem and it's changing. It's getting worse and worse every year. There are too many bears and there's not enough habitat to support them. - This recent phenomena of unusual bear sightings and activity may not be as uncommon as we think. Giant bears also appear regularly in Native American legends. - They say these bears are so large they don't actually chew their victims, they swallow their victims. - Neil Christopher is an expert on Inuit legends. - NEIL CHRISTOPHER, Inuit Legend Expert: They'll explain how large it is by comparing it to an iceberg. It looks just like a polar bear from my understanding, a head large enough with a mouth large enough to swallow an adult without having to chew. It's thought that the body is so massive that the legs can't hold its weight for very long on land. - Out in the Alaskan wilderness, a Monsterquest expedition is under way looking for unusually large bears. Paleontologist Blaine Schubert is doing recon around camp, looking for signs of bear presence. - Here's some bear poo. - Oh, yeah? - Yeah. Yeah. - They have spotted a bear on the way in, and it could be hiding anywhere around here. - It's scary because every little hilltop you go over, you wonder whether or not there's going to be a bear there. - A few miles away, Jim Oltersdorf is installing measuring equipment. - JIM OLTERSDORF, Guide/Wildlife Photographer: I'm tying these 2 different lengths to see how big of a bear we can bring in to the photographic trap here. - To try and keep this installation as human-scent free as possible, Jim uses timber found on the gravel beach to construct a suspended bait system. - Let's see how high the big ones go here. - The purpose of this is to get the bears to step on the electronic scale. - A little over 10 feet, might see a big one. - Bears have an incredibly powerful sense of smell, 6 times more sensitive than that of a bloodhound. If the human smell around the equipment is stronger than that of the baits, the bears might decide to stay away. - Right on the money! - With the scale and graded bait system in place, Jim hooks up the motion-activated camera traps. If a bear comes in, he'll be photographed from 3 different angles. There are 2 kinds of bear attacks: defensive or predatory. Most are defensive ones and happen when bears are surprised at close range. [ Roaring ] - JOHN HECHTEL, Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish and Game: If there's a bear that's sound asleep along a trail and you're walking along not making noise and the bear wakes up and sees you as a person looming over it, 15, 20 feet away, that's a bad situation to put a bear in because it immediately has to wake up and decide whether to just run away or to try to fight to protect itself. - In this type of attack, playing dead may save your life. - Just stop, put your hands behind your neck, cover the vital areas of yourself, roll into a ball and remain absolutely still. [ Roaring ] - Predatory attacks are less frequent, but a lot more dangerous, whether you're talking about grizzly bears, polar bears or black bears. - All 3 species of bears, on occasion, have attempted to kill and eat humans. You know, if a bear is doing that, playing dead doesn't do anything. - In these cases, there is only one thing to do. - You have to fight tooth, claw and nail, no pun intended, because he's going to kill you and he's going to eat you. So do anything that you can. We find many times punching them in the face with your fist, trying to gouge their eyes will save your life. - Bears are wild animals, and even those that work with them on a daily basis can be caught off guard. - In Alaska, miles from any civilization, a Monsterquest expedition is under way looking for giant bears like this 1,200 pound giant, shot in 2001. Wildlife photographer Jim Oltersdorf and paleontologist Blaine Schubert have set up camp on the Kenai Peninsula, where the biggest bears can be found. They have installed an electronic scale and a graded bait system hoping that the bears, just out of their dens, will be hungry enough to ignore the human scent inevitably found all around it. But right now, everyone is hoping to catch a few hours of much needed sleep knowing that a livestock electrical fence is all that stands between them and whatever may be out there lurking in the shadows. - I think bears are less afraid of humans. - Dale Bagley is a Native Alaskan. He has been hunting in these woods for the past 25 years, but nothing could have prepared him for what happened in April 1993. [ Growling ] - It was a beautiful sunny day. I went for a walk, and I had my rifle and a .44 'cause I was actually looking for an area to moose hunt in the fall. And I was heading through a thick area of brush and, all of a sudden, I was aware that the birds were making a lot of noise, and I started to take a closer look at my surroundings. DALE BAGLEY, Bear Attack Victim: It was a moose kill that was laying there. And I was backing up, getting out of there, when the bear woke up, turned around and looked at me. It was a big bear. And I pulled my .44 out. I fired a shot in the air, and the bear kept on getting to its feet and immediately started coming at me, so I put the .44 back in its holster. I raised my rifle up. I fired one shot, and it was like the bear hit a wall and came to a stop. But then, it kept on coming and I was going to squeeze again and my rifle had jammed. I took a few steps while I was getting my .44 back out of the holster, and then it slammed into me... [ Roaring ] [ Screaming ] ...knocking me to the ground. He bit me 3 times: lower jaw, mid area and the top of my forehead. And I've got about 200... I had 200 stitches, staples and sutures in my head. I pretty much broke every bone in my head. [ Roaring ] - This ferocious attack could have been avoided. The normally fearful bear could have gone the other way, but according to Bagley, bears are changing. - When I was a kid, it was, like, one in 10 years. Now we're having one to two bear attacks every year, so there's definitely been a shift. - Are bears evolving, losing their natural fear of man? Or is it just a case of habitat encroachment? Although Dale Bagley's account could support the theory that bears are vicious killers, this man disagrees. - You're being nice, aren't you? Bears are not getting more aggressive. It's just that there's more contact between bears and people. - Lynn Rogers heads up the Wildlife Research Institute in Ely, Minnesota. He has been working with black bears for over 40 years. - You are the world's largest black bear. - This black bear is almost 900 pounds. - LYNN ROGERS, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute: So why aren't you ferocious? Attacks by black bears are very rare and they're not by mothers defending cubs as many people think. That's one of the biggest myths about black bears. They could be by males, females, old bears, young bears, injured bears, starving bears, there's really no pattern. - Attacks can even be by bears raised in captivity. [ Growling ] A few drops of pepper spray sends that nervous bear flying. - Pepper spray is a really effective defence against any bear that comes closer than you feel comfortable. - MELISSA MEAD, Bear Witness: I think pepper spray is a joke. Who wants to get that close to a bear? - In New Jersey, Melissa's neighbour also thinks the problem is too big for a couple of cans of pepper spray. - Bears are getting less afraid of humans. Yes, they are becoming bolder. Yes, they are becoming more aggressive. And they are becoming a bigger danger to any neighbourhood. - Black bears are using Jenn Spadaccini's backyard as a trail to move across the neighbourhood. Eric Bunk checks for recent signs of activity. - ERIC BUNK, Hunter: This ground's pretty hard, so you're not going to see many prints or anything unless it was wet or muddy. - JENN SPADACCINI, Bear Witness: They go around the wall this way and they head out into the street. They also come this way. Then what they do is they cut across my side yard here. So I am their path. My yard, my property, is their path to and from their feeding stations. - Back in Alaska, Jim and Blaine are on the move. After a restless night of sleep, they are trekking their way through brown bear country... - Watch closely. Those bears could be anywhere. - ...looking for unusually large bears. - Coming to a place like this, you're a different level on the food chain than you are in most other places in the world. And so you have this feeling, this eerie feeling, that these bears could come in. There's some claw marks right there. - Oh, yeah! Not a big bear. - A pretty small bear. - Sharpening his claws. Right here. Right up here. Four and a half footer, a baby. - At this time of year, the cubs are sticking close to the mother bears. It's an especially volatile situation. In defence of her young, the mother bear will either keep her distance or attack without provocation. - Hey, Jim! - Yeah? - Come back here. Look at this. - Boy, they're thick in here, aren't they? - Sure are. Signs just everywhere. Oh, look here! That must be a really small cub there. - Boy, they're scratching everywhere! - Mm-hmm. - The evidence here proves that there is a large and active population of bears on the Kenai Peninsula. But even for an experienced tracker and hunter like Oltersdorf, if a bear doesn't want to be found, it's nearly impossible to track him down. But Eric Bunk is looking for bears moving into suburban territories in New Jersey. He's about to find what he is looking for. - [Bunk whispering]: Bear, bear, bear, bear, bear! - I see him! - There are reports of mysterious bears hiding in the great Far North. Some suggest that the giant short-faced bear, the most formidable American land carnivore, might still be around. This man was attacked by a giant bear. He says that bears are getting bigger and are losing their fear of man. [ Roaring ] This man is a world-renowned expert on the giant short-faced bear. Although it's unlikely, he says it's not impossible that this bear could have survived somewhere in this wilderness. This man claims that we have not yet solved all the mysteries surrounding the bears. And this woman is afraid her children might get attacked by black bears in their own backyard. - We gotta get in the house! Come on! - In Alaska, Blaine Schubert and Jim Oltersdorf are looking for unusually large bears. - [Oltersdorf]: Bear tracks all over through here. A bear could be laying down right there and jump you. You'd never see him until it's too late. I cannot ever begin to imagine lying underneath a bear and being ripped to shreds. - These bears are so powerful that a human doesn't stand a chance against them. - But their expedition yields only a brief glimpse of a bear in the distance. - DR. BLAINE SCHUBERT, Paleontologist, East Tennessee State University: It just doesn't happen today. I wish it did. - It's not an unusual scenario. Bears are stealthy and intelligent animals. In nearly every situation, bears will see humans before humans see them. Even the graded bait system failed to lure them in. 3,500 miles from Alaska, in New Jersey, the black bears are in a different frame of mind. They have invaded a small community showing absolutely no fear of humans. - We see more bears in neighbourhoods now than we do in these open woods. There's something wrong with that, definitely. - Hunter Eric Bunk is investigating. While patrolling one of the neighbourhood's wooded areas, Eric and the Monsterquest crew found what they where looking for. This was just a few yards away from homes and backyards. - [Bunk whispering]: Bear, bear, bear, bear, bear! - I see him! - That black bear stayed there for several minutes, oblivious to the crew. - It finally ran away when Eric Bunk tried to get even closer. - We have too many bears and not enough habitat. And animals are competing for only so much food, so many food sources. - With the expansion of humans into bear territory, bears are becoming more at ease with humans. And they are not only bolder and more assertive, but also, as the evidence suggests, bigger and more aggressive. One of the great mysteries of the giant bear legend is called MacFarlane's bear. It was shot and killed in 1864 and sent to the Smithsonian museum. Some people believe it could be the last remains of the giant short-faced bear. Now back in Washington, paleontologist Blaine Schubert will finally have the chance to examine MacFarlane's bear. - Where you heading to? - I'm heading to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. All right, thanks! I'll get out here. - Dr. Schubert will examine MacFarlane's bear for unusual or unidentified physical characteristics. - By looking at the teeth, looking at the jaw, I will be able to determine whether or not it is just another brown bear or possibly something else. - Because MacFarlane's bear is classified as a holotype, a first collected specimen, cameras are not allowed access, just scientists like Schubert. After examining it, Schubert is emphatic. - I'm 100% confident that this is a brown bear. Actually it's a very small individual, a small female, a young age. And so, that's something I wasn't expecting. With the stories that I've heard about this bear, I was expecting a really large animal. - MacFarlane's bear may not be prehistoric, but people are still seeing huge bears in the wilderness. The white bear shot in Fort Yukon turned out to be a pure polar bear, not a hybrid. No one will ever know why that bear traveled 10 times further than it should ever have done. Climate changes have grizzlies and brown bears going north, while polar bears are wandering further south than ever before. Perhaps this is part of the natural order, but on Monsterquest, natural is not always normal. - SCOTT SCHLIEBE, Polar Bear Project Leader, US Fish and Wildlife Service: I don't think that it's realistic to think that we could develop a super prizzly in a hundred years that would exhibit all of those best trends. I mean, evolution takes longer than a few generations. - MATT BILLE, Science Writer, Cryptozoologist: The rate of discovery of new mammals has gone up in the last 2 decades, not down the way you'd expect. So, there is still a possibility of finding unknown bear species. - Because of the vastness of Alaska where man hasn't even walked and penetrated this wilderness, you better believe there's something that's going to surprise all of us someday. Closed Captions: Vision Globale

Info

Channel: HISTORY

Views: 253,416

Rating: 4.757616 out of 5

Keywords: history, history channel, history shows, history channel shows, monster quest, history monster quest, monster quest show, monster quest full episodes, monster quest clips, full episodes, monsterquest season 2 episode 15, monsterquest se02 e15, monster quest s2 e15, monster quest s02 e15, monster quest 2X15, watch monsterquest, watch monster quest full episodes, watch monster quest season 2 clips, monster quest season 2, watch monsterquest season 2, Giant Bear Attack

Id: P7t3yPnwwGE

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 45min 1sec (2701 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 29 2020