Why do Grizzly Bears eat small children?

Question

I heard a story about a six year old girl who got eaten by a Grizzly bear in Tennessee.

Do you think it was just desperate or do bears enjoy eating child flesh?

I hope it was just desperate because I don't really like the idea of child flesh being considered delicious by any lifeform...

You're right. I googled it up and it was actually a Black bear.

Answer 1

It must have been starving or you would hear about it every day if Grizzly bears craved children. Don't let that go to your head though, if you have children or are one: always be aware.

Answer 2

I'm an old hunter and have hunted Grizzlies in Alaska.

I think you are being fed a bill of goods. I have never heard of Grizzlies in Tennessee but let's assume they do exist there. A Grizzly Bear is a carnivor, that means they eat meat. A child is meat and that is all the bear knows. They eat salmon on Kodiak Island and other things else where. Not because they have a particular taste for something but because it is available. My only concern about your example is that the bear may find out how easy it is to kill and eat humans.

Personally I worry more about big cats than I do about bears. A Cougar attack is a very ugly thing to behold and when their habitat is reduced they will attack humans. Even coyote are dangerous to children. And again, not because it is delicious but because it is easy. For example, given the choice a cougar will attack a lamb over a big male deer. The deer has antlers and hooves he will use to defend himself. The lamb is simply an easier meal.

All that said, I suggest you check that story closely. I really doubt that it is true.

Answer 3

Well first of all Tennessee has no Grizzlies in the area, only Black Bears. But, a Grizzly will eat a small person if it can catch them with out being threatened, as will any carnivore. Honestly though, this sounds made up since Tennessee isn't part of the Grizzly Bear Domain.

Answer 4

That is quite sad that would happen . I think they are just instinctive predators and act on this whenever they are hungry . In the case of the little girl the bear was likely just exhibiting opportunistic behavior or felt it's personal space had been encroached upon by the young girl . I do feel a bear that has tasted human flesh should be put down or removed and put in a zoo or someplace where it would no longer have an opportunity to strike a human again. It is sad in a way because we humans have encroached on their domain which makes it increasingly more difficult for them to avoid humans . Some people continue to feed bears also which then causes the bears to associate food and people which then often results in a case such as you mention and the bears are then a danger to humans because of the feeding.

Answer 5

They are conservationist saving the large humans of reproductive age by eating bite size snacks. Alligator in Florida do this too,.........

In the New Hannibal Lechter is rising Movie when the army men envirnment was reduced they ate Hannibals sister to survive, they also gave him some broth, I think later he developed an aqcuired taste, This is certainly not the ntural food chain.
Perhaps they have simpley become connoseur of their environment. We after all are the one who introduced the small children they were here first not vice versa

Its sort of the natural unatural order of things

Answer 6

Grizzly Bears are like Crocodile's: they attack whenever they see something either that's easy prey (for food) or that challenges them (to work to stay as the "alpha male").
If something moves, it comes across as challenging them "for alpha status", almost regardless of size. And almost any human that shows fear (running, crying...) will come across as prey...and a grizzly bear, much like a dog, will often try and eat anything in case it can't find something to eat later (that's, for example, why dogs given too much food eat it all instead of regulating themselves,

>>my point being>>>>

it's a survival skill has nothing to do with them liking/disliking the tastes of certain animals...or people).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Answer 7

Children are a easy mark and their meat is so tender. Most usually smell good (if clean) and they don't run very fast. Adults meat isn't tender and they usually know what to do if a bear wants to eat them. Play dead. Kids look in awe and then run if scared. The running is what gets them ate for dinner.

Answer 8

Adults are too big for their mouths to swallow! Nah! just kidding. It could be an isolated incident. But does Tennesse have Grizzly Bears, I heard it's too hot for them. So it could be very well a false story.

Answer 9

Because they're chewy on the outside and crunchy on the inside.

Morbid jokes aside, the reason animals go for young of other species is simply because they'll be easier to catch, more defenceless and easier to move - jaguars often drag a carcass a long way before taking it in to the high brances of a tree.

Answer 10

It was a Black Bear and they caught it and euthanized it. The authorities thought it might have been a tumor that caused it to go crazy.