Fatal Bear Attacks in North America

Most Fatal Bear Attacks in North America have been documented in the last 40 years.

This list of Bear attacks leading to fatalities is intended for educational purposes on statistics, frequency and geographic location. More specific information on each of these encounters can be found by using this information to perform additional searches.

Jasper Wildlife

Most bear attacks resulting in fatalities from Grizzly or Brown, Black and Polar Bears have been documented, however, this list does not contain all fatal attacks.

Fatal Bear Attacks in 2000s

Name, age, gender	Date	Bear Species	Area, Info
Robin Kochorek, 31, female	July 20, 2007	Black Bear	Robin Kochorek was reported missing on July 20th after being separated from friends while mountain biking at Panorama Mountain Resort, British Columbia. A black bear killed her and was near Robin's body when recovered at 8 a.m. July 21st. Indications were that the bear had preyed upon this person or was trying to claim ownership.
Samuel Evan Ives, 11, male	June 17, 2007	Black Bear	Samuel Evan Ives was taken from his tent in American Fork Canyon, in the Uinta National Forest, Utah County. Samuel was sleeping in the tent with his stepfather, mother and 6-year-old brother. The bear was later destroyed by Utah state Wildlife officials.
Elora Petrasek, 6, female	April 13, 2006	Black Bear	She was killed and her mother and 2 year-old brother seriously injured in an attack in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee.
Arthur Louie, 60, male	September 20, 2005	Brown or Grizzly	Killed by a female while he was walking back to his mining camp after his car had a flat tire at Bowron River, British Columbia.
Jacqueline Perry, 30, female	September 6, 2005	Black Bear	Killed in a predatory attack at the Missinaibi Lake Provincial Park, north of Chapleau, Ontario, Canada. Her husband was seriously injured in the attack.
69, male	August 26, 2005	Black Bear	Fatally mauled while picking plums at Selkirk, north of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Rich Huffman, 61, male; Kathy Huffman, 58, female	June 23, 2005	Brown or Grizzly	Killed in their tent at a campsite along the Hulahula river 12 miles upriver from Kaktovik in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Isabelle Dube, 35, female	June 5, 2005	Brown or Grizzly	Killed while jogging with 2 friends on the Bench Trail in Canmore, Alberta
Merlyn Carter, 71, male	2005	Black Bear	Found dead in the main cabin of his fishing camp located 300 km Northeast of Ft. Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada.
Timothy Treadwell, 46, male; Amie Huguenard, 37, female	October 2003	Brown or Grizzly	Found by their pilot, dead and partially consumed at Katmai National Park, Alaska on October 6, 2003. Treadwell was world-famous for his books and documentaries on living with wild bears in Alaska. State Troopers investigating the incident recovered an audiotape of the attack.
Forestry worker	April 17, 2003	Black Bear	Stalked, killed and partially consumed by a large, Black bear near Waswanipi, a village in northern Quebec.
male citizen of Alberta, Canada	September 2002	Black Bear	Attacked and killed at a remote oil rigging site in northeastern British Columbia.
male hunter	September 2002	Black Bear	Attacked and killed in his campsite in Gaspé region of northern Quebec.
Ester Schwimmer, 5 months, female	August 2002	Black Bear	Bear grabs and kills 5 month old infant from stroller on the porch of home in Fallsburg, New York
Adelia Maestras Trujillo, 93, female	August 2001	Black Bear	Bear breaks into a house in New Mexico and is confronted by the elderly owner who dies during the attack.
Kyle Harry, 18, male	June 3, 2001	Black Bear	Attacked and killed at a rural campsite 25 km. east of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, Canada.
George Tullos, 41, male	July 14, 2000	Brown or Grizzly	His partially consumed body was found at Run Amuk campground in Hyder, Alaska.
Mary-Beth Miller, 24, female	July 2000	Black Bear	Attacked and killed while on a training run in Quebec, Canada.
Glena Ann Bradley, female	May 2000	Black Bear	Killed and partially consumed by a 112 pound female and her 40 pound yearling. The attack occurred while she was walking on a trail near Smokey Mountains Campground near Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Fatal Bear Attacks in 1990s

Name, age, gender	Date	Bear Species	Area, Info
Ned Rasmussen, male	November 1999	Brown or Grizzly	Found dead 2 days after he disappeared on a deer hunting trip on Uganik Island, Alaska.
Ken Cates, 53, male	May 25, 1999	Brown or Grizzly	Killed while hiking on the Funny River Trail near Soldotna, Alaska. Investigators found bear blood at the scene, and determined that Cates fired two shots with his rifle scoring at least one hit. The bear was never found.
Craig Dahl, 26, male	May 17, 1998	Brown or Grizzly	Last seen alive hiking in the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park. His partially consumed remains were found three days later.
Audelio Luis Cortes, 40, male	February 8, 1998	Brown or Grizzly	Killed by a single head bite while working with a seismic crew in the Swanson River oil field near Kenai, Alaska
Marcie Trent, 77, female; and her son, Larry Waldron, 45	July 1, 1995	Brown or Grizzly	Killed by a bear defending a moose carcass on the McHugh Creek Trail near Anchorage, Alaska.
John Petranyi, male	October 3, 1992	Brown or Grizzly	Attacked and killed by a female with 2 cubs on the Loop Trail, Upper McDonald Valley, Glacier National Park.
	1991		Algonquin Park, Canada

Fatal Bear Attacks in 1980s

Name, age, gender	Date	Bear Species	Area, Info
Gary Goeden, male	found September 1, 1987; missing since July 28, 1987	Brown or Grizzly	His partially consumed remains were found at Natahki Lake, Many Glacier Valley, Glacier National Park.
Charles Gibbs, 40, male	April 25, 1987	Brown or Grizzly	He was last seen alive following and photographing a female with cubs at Elk Mountain in Glacier National Park. Investigators recovered film of the female approaching in attack mode at 50 yards.
Photographer	October 1986	Brown or Grizzly	Approached an adult female too closely in Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park.
Backpacker	July 1984	Brown or Grizzly	Killed at a backcountry campsite at the southern end of White Lake in Yellowstone National Park.
Camper	June 1983	Brown or Grizzly	Killed at the Rainbow Point campground in the Gallatin National Forest just Northwest of Yellowstone National Park.
Laurence Gordon, male	September 30, 1980	Brown or Grizzly	Attacked and killed at the Elizabeth Lake campsite in the Belly River valley, Glacier National Park.
Jane Ammerman, female; Kim Eberly, male	July 24, 1980	Brown or Grizzly	Attacked and killed at Divide Creek in the St. Mary valley, Glacier National Park.

Fatal Bear Attacks in 1970s

Name, age, gender	Date	Bear Species	Area, Info
	1978		Algonquin Park, Canada
Mary Pat Mahoney, 22, female	September 23, 1976	Brown or Grizzly	She was dragged from a tent and killed at Many Glacier campground in Glacier National Park.
male	June 1972	Brown or Grizzly	Killed by a bear that was feeding on food that was left out at Yellowstone National Park.

Fatal Bear Attacks in 1960s

Name, age, gender	Date	Bear Species	Area, Info
Julie Helgeson, 19, female	August 13, 1967	Brown or Grizzly	Killed at Granite Park campsite in Glacier National Park by a female bear. Helgeson's companion, Roy Ducat, was severely mauled during the attack.
Michelle Koons, 19, female	August 13, 1967	Brown or Grizzly	Killed at Trout Lake campsite in Glacier National Park by a female bear. Although Helgeson and Koons were the same age and killed on the same night, these were separate attacks by different bears approximately 10 miles apart.

Jasper Wildlife Pictures | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20