GATLINBURG, Tenn. (Story courtesy of WVLT) – A bear making an appearance at the Gatlinburg Christmas parade Friday night has gone viral, bringing with it questions about bears in Gatlinburg.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said the bear caught on camera Friday night has probably started to get used to humans and eventually will be put down as the bear sees humans as a source of food.
Matt Cameron with TWRA said bears shouldn’t seek affection like a dog or cat and instead flight away from humans.
“The difference between a bear and a dog is the dog will continue to come around for your affection, even if there isn’t a food reward involved. Bears don’t have that same gene to approach for affection,” said Cameron.
“The city purchased at about $3 million dollars for the purpose of dumpsters city-wide that we maintain instead of privately-owned in an effort to reduce garbage as a food source for bears,” said Seth Butler with the City of Gatlinburg.
With 1,900 bears living around Gatlinburg, a bear in town looking for food isn’t something surprising, but a bear on the streets with hundreds of people should be uncommon.
“That bear is, at some point, going to come in physical contact with a human and probably have to be epithelized for its actions, so help us keep bears wild, keep them alive, and hopefully we can enjoy seeing them in and around people with out them exhibiting any human habituation which is what you’re seeing here,” said Cameron.
The average between 15 to 30 bears being killed each year.
Gatlinburg and TWRA both said that while bear problems have been lower this year in Gatlinburg, they’ve seen an increase in bear issues in other communities.
Bear at Gatlinburg parade (WVLT)
