Wildlife observers were expecting 2026 to be a wild year for bear attacks, and that’s played out so far, says a Texas-based outdoorsman compiling what he says is the first-ever comprehensive list of attacks available to the public.
A longtime outdoor writer, Mike Dickerson, 71, has a network of contacts in wildlife agencies across the U.S. and Canada.
“Some of them were telling me, and common sense was telling me, this was going to be a bad year for bear attacks,” he told Cowboy State Daily, adding that 2026 is on track to be “unprecedented.”
Using news-tracking alerts, agency reports, and other methods, Dickerson has been keeping a tally of bear incidents and posting regular updates on social media.
In many cases, he gathered enough information from local reports for a summary of each attack. In some instances, he contacted wildlife agencies, hoping to get more details.
He said his primary goal is to keep the public informed, in hopes that people will be more aware and make better decisions in bear country.
“I’m hoping this is helpful and increasing awareness of the fact that bears aren’t big, fuzzy teddy bears,” he said.
Researchers led by bear biologist Tom Smith at Brigham Young University in Utah have long kept a comprehensive bear attack database, but that’s not available to the public, Dickerson said.
At Least 64 Attacks
So far, he’s documented more than 70 bear encounters, including 64 attacks that resulted in injury or death across North America.
He noted that particularly in remote parts of Canada and Alaska, attacks might go unreported.
“I’m personally convinced that there are more attacks than what I’ve been capturing (for the list),” he said.
Outside magazine published an interactive map of the attacks Dickerson has documented.
The map shows only one grizzly attack and one black bear attack in Wyoming.
In May, two brothers were severely injured in a grizzly attack in Yellowstone National Park.
And in July, an aggressive black bear drove two women out of their camp in the Bighorn Mountains, then trashed their tents.
Outside also asked renowned grizzly researcher Chris Servheen to crunch the numbers.
Servheen determined, for example, that 43% of the attacks were predatory, and of those 94% involved black bears.
That tracks with the long-held idea that while grizzlies might be more apt to attack people, black bears are more likely to actually hunt humans, Dickerson said.
“That’s a big difference between black bear attacks and grizzly attacks. Most grizzly attacks are territorially defensive,” he said.
Grizzlies usually are trying to protect their young or defending a big-game carcass they’re feeding on, he said.
Long-term research indicates that of fatal black bear attacks, roughly 80% are predatory, he said.
“That simply means, and a lot of people don’t want to accept this, that the bear is trying to take you down, kill you, and eat you,” Dickerson said.
What’s Causing Conflicts?
As bears left their dens this spring, many were holding their breath, anticipating a bad year.
Drought and wildfires had damaged bear habitat in many places. And in other locations, natural food sources, such as berry crops, have failed.
And so, it was practically a given that as bears became desperate for food, there would be trouble, Dickerson said.
And to a degree, that’s played out as feared.
“In some areas, droughts and fires have forced bears into lower elevations and into towns in search of food, and Colorado has been a classic case of that,” he said.
Durango, Colorado, has been a hotbed of human-bear conflicts this summer and fall. Statewide, wildlife agents have killed nearly 300 black bears over conflicts, about quadruple the number during a typical year.
More people recreating in bear country has also frequently been cited as a reason for an uptick in conflicts and attacks.
There’s truth to that as well, Dickerson said. But he’s wary of oversimplification, or explanations that place all the blame on humans.
For one thing, there are more bears out there -- a lot more, he said.
“The reality is, in many, many areas, the bear populations have grown tremendously in, say, the last 50 or 60 years,” he said.
Bears Expanding Range
Bears are also expanding their range, he said. For example, grizzlies have steadily been reclaiming their natural prairie habitat in central and eastern Montana.
“Bear populations have expanded into long-settled areas where there haven’t been bears seen for a long time,” he said.
Bears can also adapt to many habitats where people might not expect to find them, including deserts, Dickerson said.
“We have bears in Texas. A lot of people don’t think we have bears in Texas, but we do,” he said.
More people and more bears in close proximity is bound to cause tension, he said.
Dickerson said he has little patience for what he calls “predator apologists,” or people who place all the blame on humans, no matter what, some of whom have shown up in his posts’ comment sections.
“They’re missing the point. Human-bear conflicts are nothing new,” he said.
Humans and our ancestors have long shared spaces with bears, “and we’ve always been competing, omnivorous predators,” he said.
Times Bears Don’t Attack
Canadian human-bear conflict prevention expert Kim Titchener told Cowboy State Daily she’s spoken with Dickerson and appreciates what he’s doing.
“I think the public has a right to know. I think what Mike is doing is offering the public a chance to be aware of what is happening,” Titchener said.
She hopes people use the information to make better decisions, such as properly disposing of garbage, livestock carcasses, pet food, and other things that might attract bears.
While it’s good to have a comprehensive and easily available listing of attacks, Titchener hopes it doesn’t skew people’s perceptions of bears.
For every conflict or attack, there are countless instances of bears and people encountering each other, and each going their own way with no harm done, she said.
An International Phenomenon
Dickerson is focusing on North America but acknowledges that human-bear conflicts are becoming more common across the world.
There have been conflicts with brown bears in parts of Europe.
And in Russia, there have been so many attacks this year that officials have sent out “small armies of shooters” to kill brown bears, he said.
Some in Russia are even calling for criminal investigations of local authorities for “failing to protect the public from bears,” he said.
Bear attacks have gotten so common in Japan that the situation has been described as a “national health emergency,” Dickerson said.
The country recently deployed the military to help curb human-bear conflicts.
In rural Japan, locals have used firearms to protect villages from bears. They also practice by firing darts at a man dressed in a bear suit. They also get practice by firing darts at a man dressed in bear suits.
Another fact that might surprise many is that India is also a hot spot for bear attacks, Dickerson noted.
'I know the risk.'
Dickerson said he plans to keep his list going this year but isn’t sure if he’ll continue.
Keeping the list refreshed is “a big time sink," and he wants to keep enjoying the outdoors.
He said he’d recently gone hunting in west Texas, where there are free-ranging elk, and he shot a bull.
Regarding the bigger picture, Dickerson said he’s a staunch supporter of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, which hinges upon public hunting, with oversight by state wildlife agencies.
He hopes his list might help wildlife managers and policymakers.
As for bear attacks, they often boil down to a matter of “being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
Going into bear country requires knowledge, respect and caution, but an irrational fear of bears shouldn’t stop people from enjoying the outdoors, he said.
“I know the risk, I accept the risk, and I prepare myself the best I can,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
