11 February 2024 , 07:00
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A hiker was stalked by a bear for half an hour before park rangers shot it with a paintball gun. The terrifying incident happened in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, US.
Megan, an experienced hiker, was six miles into an eight-mile trail when she first saw the black bear. Despite trying several techniques to scare it off, the bear continued to follow her.
She managed to lose the bear and call for help, breaking down in tears. But when she returned to the trail, the bear was still there.
Park rangers and law enforcement officers tried to scare the bear away by shouting, but it wasn't scared. One of them had to shoot it with a paintball gun. Megan said: "That is not a normal way to behave for a black bear. As a hiker and guide I know bear safety protocol."
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Megan, 42, who was persued by a bear in East Tennesee in October 2023 (@smoky.mountain.soul / SWNS)She added: "I was walking on the trail and I heard a rustling behind me. When I turned, a bear came up the mountain to get on the trail behind me. It seemed very interested from the beginning."
"I knew you don't turn your back and you don't run. So I turned and I saw a bear staring at me and it huffed at me. I started walking backward with my arms in the air."
Megan tried everything she knew to avoid a bear attack, but nothing seemed to work. The bear kept following her despite her efforts. "Just as I thought it was gone I heard the bear behind me again. That's when I got scared because I realised it was following me on purpose," Megan shared.
Park rangers were forced to shoot a bear with a paintball gun (@smoky.mountain.soul / SWNS)She tried shouting and waving her arms at the bear, but it didn't seem bothered. "I was shouting at it and waving my arms. It just seemed to not be concerned. At one point, I screamed at it and it ran down the mountain a bit so I kept going but then I heard it behind me again." she said.
At one point, the bear got so close that Megan had to walk sideways to keep an eye on it. She recalled: "My feelings were very hyperaware. I was thinking 'What are my options? How can I get out alive?'"
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The bear that followed Megan (@smoky.mountain.soul / SWNS)
The experienced hiker, who kept her last name private, was 6 miles into an 8-mile trail in the Smoky Mountains, East Tennessee (@smoky.mountain.soul / SWNS)Eventually, Megan remembered she had some trail mix in her backpack. She managed to get enough distance from the bear to throw the snacks away. "I realised I had some trail mix in my backpack. At one point I got enough distance to get into my bag and throw it away." she explained.
With the bear distracted by the trail mix, Megan ran up a nearby mountain to get a signal on her phone and call for help. "When I got away and got on my phone I broke down in tears." she admitted.
But when she was told to return to the trail to meet with help, the bear was still there. "It was like a movie. I was getting back to the trail and I saw the bear," Megan said.
"At the exact same moment I heard the park rangers shouting for me. They come up shouting at it. That did not phase the bear. It [the bear] took a step towards them and stared them down. They were about to shoot it until one of them shot it with a paintball gun."
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There's a belief that the bear saw humans as food, which explains its strange behaviour. Megan shared, "One of them was a wildlife specialist and he said that the bear was a food-conditioned bear."
"Tourists come and they leave food around and the bears start to see people as a source of food. The park ranger told me that even so, it was highly unusual and there was nothing I could have done."