Black Bear Safety in the Smoky Mountains

There are approximately 1,600 black bears that call the Great Smoky Mountains National Park home. Seeing these beautiful creatures is why many families make the trip to the Smoky Mountains. With its great wooded areas and open fields, Cades Cove offers the best chance to see black bears in the Smokies. In this week’s blog, Cades Cove Heritage Tours would like to remind you that these bears are wild animals and give you some safety tips if you encounter a bear.

Keep Your Distance

The most important thing to remember is to keep a safe distance. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park requires you to stay at least 50 yards away from bears at all time. If you get closer than 50 yards, you could be fined or even be arrested. Bear attacks are very uncommon, but bears will protect food and cubs, so if you get to close, they could see you as a threat.

Do Not Feed Them

If you have food, keep it secured and never leave it unattended. Never feed the bears! This can be very dangerous for you and the bear. Black bears are naturally wary of people but feeding them can cause them to lose that fear of people and cause them to look for more tasty food.

Stay Calm

If you happen to encounter a bear and it notices you, stay calm and speak so the bear recognizes you as a human and not prey. If the bear starts to stomp, pop his jaws, slapping vegetation, or lunging at you, he is telling you are too close. Speak in a low tone voice and increase the space between you and the bear.

Never Run

Like we have mentioned, black bears are naturally scared of humans and they rarely attack. If you approach a bear and it notices you, do not turn and run. If you run from a bear, it can chase you and bears are fast! They can run up to speeds of 30 MPH.

Fight Back

If you ever are in the presence of a bear and a bear comes at you for some reason. It could be, it is after your food or sees you as prey. Get to higher ground and throw a rock or stick at the animal. Make yourself more dominant than the bear. If you are attacked by the bear, the National Park Service tells us to fight back aggressively. If you have food, get rid of it. Separate yourself from the food and hopefully, that will deter the bear. If the bear continues to attack fight back and never ever play dead.


Spotting a black bear in the smokies is an awesome experience, but please remember these are wild and unpredictable animals and remember these tips. At Cades Cove Heritage Tours, we offer guided public and private Cades Cove tours for individual and groups of all ages. For a great chance to catch a glimpse of the Smoky Mountain black bear book your tour with us today!


CADES COVE HERITAGE TOURS
865-448-8838
P.O. Box 268
Townsend, TN 37882-0268
info@cadescoveheritagetours.org

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