There is nothing quite like getting out for the day and getting some fresh air. For most of us, the pandemic has hindered that option, at least to a certain extent. We still love to get out there when we can but perhaps we don’t do it as often as we would like. There are also times when we might go out to do something outdoors and when all is said and done, we regret being out there. That is probably how a group of hikers in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park are feeling after seeing a bear eating human remains.
The event took place a few miles away from the Tennessee border on the Hazel Creek Trail. When the group passed what they thought was a deserted campsite, they didn’t give it much thought but then they started to find some body parts here and there. They also spotted a bear that was ‘scavenging the area’, which couldn’t have been good. After the hikers got back to an area where they could make a cell phone call, they got in touch with the authorities. The park staff was then able to get to the area and verify a man had died.
Hikers found a man's body near the Hazel Creek Trail Friday afternoon, the park said.
Rangers euthanized the bear, but say the man's cause of death is unknown. Via #WBIR https://t.co/suHYlNScZG
— Cole Sullivan (@cole_sull) September 12, 2020
When rescuers got to the scene, they saw the same bear (or so they think) ‘actively scavenging on the remains’ of the man. The animal was killed but they aren’t able to verify that it was the bear that killed the man. This has resulted in portions of the trail and the campsite being closed.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park reports that rangers had to euthanize a bear after finding it scavenging on human remains that were reported by backpackers near Hazel Creek Trail and Backcountry Campsite 82 on Friday. https://t.co/9LB2mFV2Je
— WATE 6 On Your Side (@6News) September 12, 2020
It has never been a good idea to get that close to a black bear when you are in the wild. They say that if one is running in your direction, you should begin ‘making loud noises, or swatting the ground . . . Don’t run, but slowly back away, watching the bear’. Sounds like good advice to me.