May 24

An author who has written books on grizzlies has survived an attack by one of the bears in America's famed Yellowstone National Park.

57-year-old Jim Cole of Montana was mauled by a mother with a cub on Wednesday in the park while he was taking photographs. Females can be very protective of their cubs.

Cole managed to walk roughly three miles (five km) to a road despite severe injuries to his face, the park service said in a statement.

Cole has published books on the lives of grizzly bears in Montana, Wyoming and Alaska.

It said it is the second time Cole has been attacked by a bear, underscoring the dangers of getting too close to the animals on a regular basis in the wild.

In 2003, Timothy Treadwell, an advocate of grizzly protection who also wrote about the bears, and a companion were mauled to death by at least one grizzly in Alaska.

There have been eight minor human injuries involving bears in the park since 2000. The last human fatality involving a bear in Yellowstone occurred in 1986.

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Mother bears with cubs are best not encountered. I once came over the ridge of a low mountain, and was face to face with a momma bear. She pushed the cubs up a tree, then rared up and came at me on her hind legs. When she hit the ground, I turn and ran like h*** to the bottom of the mountain. The forest limbs tore me up, but the bear gave up the chase.

Seems like a guy who had that much experience with bears would have known better.
I'm glad he's o.k. though.

I watched the documentary with Timothy Treadwill, "Grizzly Man" I think?
That was very interesting.

Timothy Treadwell documentary was extremely interesting.. and there is so much irony in the film it's hard to keep up with it all. Awesome movie.."grizzly man."