As title says.
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I live and hike in an area with black and brown bears. The safety guides here don’t actually make a distinction between black or brown bears. A black bear is just as dangerous, and just as fast. A brown bear will often try to avoid encounters with humans as much as the black ones do. It really depends on the moment and on the bear.
The assumption is that if you are hiking in bear country you will have a bear spray. So in reality the instructions are more like back away slowly, talk to it, don’t act like prey. If it comes at you, use bear spray.
If you didn’t have bear spray or it didn’t work, playing dead is the last resort. This should work for defensive encounters, when it feels threatened. You shouldn’t play dead as your first response to a bear encounter. And if its hunting you, then playing dead will just make it easier for the bear.
I’ve seen white bears at our zoo, they are the size of a car. I don’t think it cares that you are human, or that you have bear spray.
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