REWILDING BRITAIN - Black Bears to the UK?

Join Leave Curious Membership!
kzbin.info...
Join Mossy Earth to Fund Rewilding Projects
www.mossy.earth/?referral=LEA...
Follow Leave Curious
Instagram: / leave_curious
Twitter: / curiousleave
TikTok: / leavecurious
Get In Contact
Email: [e-mail]
Offset your Carbon Footprint with Wren
shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=170159...
Some links included in this description are affiliate links.

[@tchoupy2356]

as someone that i have encounter black bears at least 10 times a year, i really dont get why people are so scared of them in urban areas

[@FrankHajek]

Because they maul injure and kill humans .Like that guy in arizona this summer having his morning coffe a black bear ate him alive.But who cares unless the victims are not family or friends! RIGHT?

[@ConstantChaos1]

Seriously like I think they would need to do a strong but gentle reminder that these are WILD BEARS DO NOT PLAY WITH THEM since the only idea of bears that is cultural is of toys and stories/movies like Paddington and we lack that missing stepingstone that we have in the lynx and the wolf of cats and dogs but yeah it's just a matter of reeducation imo

[@tomr200199]

I don't think bears would be scary in an urban area, they'd be used to humans, so generally wouldn't be a threat, but then, they wouldn't be a benefit in urban areas, they're more likely to be a pest. In rural areas, where their benefits would be found, they would be more cautious of humans, but also potentially more aggressive too.

[@metalmamasue3680]

99% of bIack bears wiII run from humans as soon as they smeII you and are not a threat. But they can be unpredictable & potentially dangerous, and need to be respected. PeopIe can Iearn to carry bear spray and be bear aware. That means not Ietting them feed on human garbage or other human food sources. They must remain wiId and rely on natural food sources. Bears that become habituated to humans become nuisance bears and conflicts can arise, which bears aImost aIways pay the price for, by ending up being euthanized. I've Iived most of my Iife in PA in the US in bIack bear territory. I've never had a problem with them but I pay attention when I'm in the woods. You don't want to surprise one. Bottom Iine, peopIe and bears have been coexisting for centuries and there's no reason we can't continue, anywhere in the world. They were here first, the Ieast we can do is try to be good neighbors.

[@annekabrimhall1059]

Exactly! They should be far more afraid of motor vehicles

[@8ferarry8]

Brown bears are already living in Europe and when was the last time a lethal attack happened? There are 20 to 30 brown bears living in Latvia alone and latvians are still enjoying their forests. European brown bears age generally smaller than their cousins in Asia/North America and they are generally quite shy. If anything is stopping their reintroduction into the UK it is lack of space. Is there enough of it to support a self sustaining population?

[@LeaveCurious]

Yes a huge constraint is lack & extent of suitable intact habitat. Maybe we get ahead of ourselves discussing these large animals before their homes have even been prepared. But then again, these animals are integral to constructing the environment around them. I think Romania have a-lot of problems with bear attacks

[@htb123]

@@LeaveCurious Another huge problem that goes with a lack of space is that many people are not animal sensible/respectful/responsible. I love and believe in rewilding but these animals cause issues when living close with people and having to be relocated far away or destroyed, this would be a bad idea for this country. Bears are also opportunistic and our waste n how careless we are added with this tiktoc selfie culture and how little space there is. Bad idea.

[@htb123]

@D S It's cute that you think the UK has anywhere left that's really remote and still it wont stop the fools wanting their selfies.. Look at the animals who have to be relocated or destroyed because they get too comfy and dangerous around people in the states.. I don't believe the UK is the place for large predators anymore and we are not used to such, there is a serious lack of common sense towards animals as it is.

[@htb123]

@D S However I would be for reducing the population of the UK dramatically so such things could be done.

[@htb123]

@D S smiles... Oooo hello. Yes I saw that and can see where he's coming from aside from the attacks with all this great reset bs. Interesting times to be sure. I would love to see the UK returned to a better state and think these larger predators are amazing I just don't think with how things are at the moment including this narc selfie madness it'd be good for the animals and it's always heartbreaking when stupid careless people behave in ways that result in wild critters being destroyed... I have dreams of disappearing into the wilds of Scotland at this point in my life I think it'd be the best place for me lol and selfishly it'd give me the wiggies having to factor in large predators cause I don't think 8 1/2 stone n a collie dog would provide much deterrent heh Even the remote parts of UK are peopled n walking hiking stuff is getting more popular.. I think as things stand it'd be bad for peeps and really bad for the animals and I hope if it does happen that I'm proved wrong.

[@cutwithaknife5718]

I think introducing an apex predator from another continent is slightly more dangerous in general than a native predator. Even if black bears are less defensive, they are more likely to eat a human than brown bears are

[@LeaveCurious]

If you had to pick would you go for the brown?

[@cutwithaknife5718]

@@LeaveCurious yes I think so

[@BigJFindAWay]

The black bear is not a top predator. It's much more of a herbivore than a predator.

[@cutwithaknife5718]

@@BigJFindAWay that is true

[@cutwithaknife5718]

@Bruce Wayne yea

[@eliletts8149]

The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) was native to the UK during the pleistocene epoch though! It would be a reintroduction of a species that did live in the UK in the not too distant geological past as well as a win for conservation as this species of bear is classed as a "Vulnerable" species by the IUCN RED LIST!

[@LeaveCurious]

Ah cool!!

[@eliletts8149]

@@LeaveCurious you are very welcome!

[@sarban1653]

Proof it lived in Pleistocene Europe?

[@paulbest6679]

Asiatic black bears are more aggressive than their North American cousins. Some speculate that its because their habitat overlaps tiger habitat.

[@thatonedog819]

Fun fact, I grew up with black bears. Moved a little south. Started hiking and acted like there were bears in the area. Only found out they weren't active in this range when a SINGLE black bear started wandering through the state and made the news daily about his progress.

[@LeaveCurious]

I love that - I let my imagination go when I'm out in nature!

[@troyclayton]

We live with black bears here in New England. Sure, it means taking in bird feeders at times- but that's life. They're less of a 'pest' than skunks, IMO. edit: Granted our human population is less dense than than much of the UK. Last I looked, like 2 people die per year from black bears in the US- compared with about 43,000 traffic casualties. Know what to fear. That's 4 orders of magnitude, making domestic dogs more of a danger- and cars near suicide (statistically).

[@tadblackington1676]

Coming from an area that has a robust population of black bears I can say they do enter your mind and make you more aware of your surroundings, with your place at the top of the foodchain not absolutely secure. Being able as a society to deal with that is at the core of human rewilding. And in the British Isles hasn't been a thing for centuries its no small thing. That said vears do fullfill important roles as predators of deer fawns and rodents. They are important for moving nutrients from migratory fish into the broader landscape. And they are important seed dispersers. Beyond that they really are mainly oversized raccoons as far as danger to people goes. The state of New Jersey has an area (19,047 km2) and a population density (488 people/km2) similar to the english counties of Hampshire, Sussex and Kent combined. New Jersey has a population of about 3100 black bears spread throughout the state, and life goes on with bears being less dangerous than house slippers or bathtubs. Its understandable if Britain wants see how it can cope with beavers and pine martens before it thinks too seriously about bears. But just to make another comparison, Great Britain has an area of 209,331km with a population density of 302 people/km. Bangladesh has an area of 148,460 km with a population density of 1,106 people/km. Bangladesh also has bears, dholes, leopards, crocodiles, gaurs, elephants and tigers roaming wild (which would scare the wits out of me too, but...).

[@LeaveCurious]

I liked your point that having predators is essential to rewilding humans. We really deprived in the UK of that. Yes some of the stories which come out Bangladesh are terrifying & fascinating!

[@connorhaley3190]

Weren’t there dholes, hyenas and elephants in prehistoric Europe

[@ajaxtelamonian5134]

Yeah the space thing is a bit of a non argument just all the fencing I think is the problem.

[@deanfirnatine7814]

I am all for rewilding native species and yes black bears can be dangerous, people in the US and Canada are killed every year by them, your comment that they are basically "oversized raccoons" is asinine

[@tadblackington1676]

@@deanfirnatine7814 As I said I live with them roaming free around my home. I've seen the paw print left on the back door of my house. I have been by my living room yelling and waving to shoo away a bear on the other side of the window out to steal the hummingbird feeder hanging from it. I stand by my assessment that black bears are mostly big raccoons when it comes to human interactions.

[@jackcocker545]

A very interesting concept but I disagree, black bears would probably pose more of a threat to humans due to their adaptability to urban environments. I also doubt they would fit into our landscape as they are extremely different from our native brown bears

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah it seems like either bear just couldn't work at the moment.

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

Ok so the best option is to 1 tell the people about what wildlife really is, show thel what should be in UK. 2 reintroduce lynxes, they are elusive, avoid humans and the least problematic specie for the farmers, making it a good first contact and introduction do large predator to the public and farmers so they can adapt more easily and see the benefit of the wild animals (tourism, nature, forest) This will make them learn about nature and predators etc, and they will tolerate to go further 2, reintroduce wolves in remote area and wait for thel to spread, help farmers with dogs and fences and other techniques to coesxist with wolves And then 15-20 years after reintroduce brown bears, This is the last step because while wolves have bad reputation and can kill livestock they pose no real threath to human while bears...not so much. But people had seen forest regrow and species came back thanks to predators. They already learn to live with lynxes and wolves. They learnt about what was lost due to humans presence. So bear wouldn't seem an odd and dangerous inclusion and there will be more support and less opposition to his legitime comeback. But introduce a non native specie that de know can thrive in this type of environnment is not a good idea Yes it will be helpfull for the ecosystem but people won't like it It's a dangerous animal that should not be here so there won't have support from public and most ecologist

[@LeaveCurious]

Oh yeah you're 100% right on the timing and sequence of reintroduction events. Have to phase it with good media coverage & education.

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

@@LeaveCurious Yeah UK have the chance to prepare the reintroduction since species can't came back naturally, so education, structure, Wild reserve and help can be fixed begore the arrival of the animals In the mainland it's more, "ho they're back, deal with it" Also moon bears could be even better than black bears Apparently they lived in Europe in the past, (Rewilding Europe last blog on megafauna restoration) but i never find any info on this. But if they did lived in Europe it would be a better choice for UK Especially if it's a endangered specie and it can create a new viable Wild population that can later be reintroduced in his native habitat. There's a lot of specie that people and rewilding seem to forgot Glow worm and water vole, hamster, reptile and amphibian (with a recent release and project in the UK but it's still rare) Leopard, lion, dholes and hyenas, water buffaloes were part of the european ecosystem and can still thrive in Europe Rhino,hippo and girafe were too and can even live in southern part such as Carpathian mountain and greece I am still amazed by the lack of red squirell, boars, pine Martens, birds of prey, bats, otters, fishes (eels, Sturgeon, salmon and other) And even wild cat in UK Those species never went extinct or to the brink of extinction in the mainland Also the question of if bear is necessary in UK It's their home, it's our fault they died, we are not necessary we are invasive yet WE are here Bears would help the ecosystem And death/accidents happen, they are rare and it's normal. Cars are more dangerous than any bears It's our duty to let nature back into it's place, we've stolen it, we've destroyed it, now it's Time to give back what we've taken and admit that we are not the superior specie or Center to the world Edit Moon bear or asiatic black near did live in Europe as far as Western Europe. So yeah definitively a valid choice to reintroduce.

[@connorhaley3190]

You forgot the wolverine!

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

@@connorhaley3190 Yeah de practicaly never talk about it. Most people don't know it's an animal that exist. It need reindeer and a lot of snow to live proprely And we didnt have that in UK, even in the north. The habitat is maybe to muche different for them now

[@displeasedgentleman7360]

@Bruce Wayne what do you mean? No hunting of every creature in British borders or just the new ones. I don’t think you understand what gamekeeping can do for a species

[@joelbaxter8689]

I visit Malawi in a regular basis and what you describing is pretty much exactly what they have done at a park I visit. It's called Majete and is possibly the best conservation success story on the continent. African parks took management of the site in I think 2006 when it was devoid of almost all wildlife. They immediately ring fenced the 700km2 site, removed the snares and have started bringing in new species, elephants, rhino, giraffe, wild dogs, cheetah, lions. They have had zero cases of elephant and rhino poaching since taking management and the park is going from strength to strength.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yes this sounds exactly like it - ill check it out, thanks Joel

[@lucykelly7152]

That is great. Sadly, though, I bet the animals outside the park did not fare so well.

[@thomashaapalainen4108]

I'm from New England and black bears are less likely to attack me than my neighbors dogs statistically speaking. Unless it has cubs a black bear will cheese it at the slightest hunt of human presence.

[@gnarmarmilla]

Thank you for examining this. In my home state of California USA, some are throwing around the idea of reintroducing the animal that is on our state flag, the Grizzly Bear, a poor awesome beast that stupid people hunted to extinction. Some people have this knee jerk reaction where their fear rules their decision making and we need to fight against that within our selves. You know? I appreciate how you considered that your fear was overblown. Truly, if the whole public is properly educated and trained how to live along side these animals and if we use our awesome technology to keep people away from nursing mothers and proud fearful males, then we will never have attacks and the advantage of having them in the UK will be terrific. I hope this does happen for you guys, and I hope the wise people in the United Kingdom will tule the day so that her glorious pastures, forest and coast lines will be glorious evermore.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah, our current generation, especially in the UK has lived without natural predators, so we have to re-educate and build those experiences. Thank you !

[@brimleyhillmassive]

Cali needs to get it's buffalo back. Rehydrate the state.

[@jimepp1492]

A bit of a caution for you. The design challenge of Bearproof trash bins is there is a considerable overlap in the intellects of an average Bear & an average Tourist!

[@MossyEarth]

This is a really interesting concept! Well done Rob! I feel there are many steps to go (probably the lynx first) but this is a very interesting idea :)

[@LeaveCurious]

Oh for sure, long way off any kind of UK bears. Thanks Mossy Earth!!

[@ajaxtelamonian5134]

Would be very cool to see bears. Have you heard of I think it's called, bear wood down in Bristol? Where they brought in some in an enclosed ish large space to see how they change the landscape. On holiday at the moment in Wyoming the bins in the parks are designed to be unopenable by bears and bearspray is in most shops. Had a Really close encounter with a Black bear a few days ago just walked across the path past us and went for a scratch on some tree. But yeah I think one would have to do some of the other rewilding stuff first to make it suitable so that there are enough plant based resources like wild bilberry, Lingonberries, Cloudberries etc on the forest floors and again like bear proofing bins and making sure people are aware. In British Columbia you could be fined for not picking your fruit after it fell as it encourages them into human settlements and then they get used to people and its just bad news for both parties. That's when you start getting attacks when they associate people with food.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yes I have! Cool project!

[@yetimelly523]

Won't work in UK. Not enough berries and sedges for 40 black bears. Europe larger land mass and more sunlight producing tons of food for black bears.

[@yetimelly523]

No Black bears will attack you and feed on you if they are hungry. Doesn't matter if you fed them or not. Hikers and hunters in US knows this. Hunters get killed in the smokey mts by black bears nowhere near the park area.

[@yetimelly523]

@Bruce Wayne Black bears?

[@yetimelly523]

@Bruce Wayne If Black Bears had to survive on deer they would starve. They are too slow to catch a deer. Maybe successful at catching fawns. Deer have noses and smell black bears really easily.

[@jonathanroberts727]

Black bears never lived here. Cave bears, Brown bears, and polar bears lived here.

[@marthawolfsen5809]

My brother and some friends were canoe camping in the boundary waters between the U.S. state of Minnesota and the Canadian province of Ontario. They hoisted their backpack of food into a tree, bringing it down only to cook supper. When there was a sudden rain shower while they were cooking they ran into the tent for just a minute or two. Immediately a bear dashed in and grabbed the backpack. They ran after the bear yelling and throwing stones until they realized they did NOT want to catch up to a hungry bear. I'm not sure British campers would be understanding if that happened to them with a bear that was deliberately introduced.

[@mountainman4987]

I've had many positive encounters with black bear here in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The only negative encounter was 2 cubs and a mama bear who bluff charged me and my nephew on a secluded creek near Lake Tahoe. It was scary as hell but we slowly backed up and got out of there peacefully.

[@darklordfalcon3670]

To be honest I still think to this day that we could rewild the Eurasian brown bear which is a bit smaller than the grizzly but mostly will attack deer and elk more than fish but I am a volunteer at the wildlife trust Cumbria and is working towards the rewilding projects so hopefully we could think of a way to allow them to live in this land onece called home for them

[@leepoll1]

Bison were recently introduced into Blean Woods Nature Reserve in Kent and are being monitored. Also look at Knepp Estate, "Wilding" by Isobella Tree, no bears or bison, but cattle, wild horses and pigs.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yes Lee, I'll be making a video on the Bison project very soon! Wilding is a brilliant book!

[@kendallkahl8725]

I worked with both black bears and a Norwegian Brown bear in the Circus both affection trainedl. Black bears are like gentle woodland creatures compared to Zelda our brown bear. Brown bears hold a grudge. The trainers son as a toddler used to rattle their cages with a stick. The black bears ignored him and forgot about it. Even at 8 years old Zelda wanted to mess him up bad.

[@eric2500]

For ideas on that superpark on the Sceptered Isle ( you guys!) from Land's End to John O Groats check out the proposals kicking around North America for wildlife corridors, also Buffalo Commons.

[@danielwhite4078]

Really interesting video! Would be interested to see more of a discussion on the different ecological impacts of brown bears, American and asiatic black bears on the British countryside (like seed dispersal etc.)

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah that would be cool! Thanks Daniel! 🌿

[@DuartedeZ]

Excellent video mate! Never thought of this but it is a thought provoking idea.

[@LeaveCurious]

Cheers man!

[@moogdome2562]

Really enjoying your excellent videos. The amount of research is amazing. Thank you. How about introducing Kodiak bears?. Haha.

[@LeaveCurious]

Ah appreciate it, I often get bits and bobs wrong but I do my best!

What's the name of the Dutch rewilding project mentioned at the end? The subtitles aren't really helping. (And does Leave Curious already have a video on it?)

[@annemarier]

I don't really know much about large scale wildlife reserves / sanctuary but your idea made think or Aussie Ark. I'm not sure if they are working with wildlife as large as bears, but they do use fences to protect the wildlife and they do have ways of monitoring the wildlife within the sanctuary. Maybe you can use their methods and experience to build on your idea of a sanctuary within the UK. I hope you ind this useful 😀

[@jbarnard2000]

Would love for you to talk about the addition of oysters back into the Thames

[@LeaveCurious]

Ah yes, theres many oyster restoration projects going on!

[@natatherden1769]

Hey Rob with regard to your enclosures idea you might like to take a look at the Australian experience. Given the introduction of the Red Fox and Domestic Cat in Australia, many native species struggle to survive in the wild. So alongside population control for these pest species a number of organisations have enclosed land areas for native species reintroduction. A key figure in this movement was Walmsley who created exclusion fences to keep pest species out but allow individuals to (at times) exit the large enclosures. Check out Mount Rothwell which is nearest to me and also the Australian Wildlife Conservancy as two examples.

[@LeaveCurious]

That sounds pretty cool, I'll look into them. I think the UK could benefit from similar systems. Cheers`!

[@jamesbohlman4297]

You have a valid point with the Black Bear that needs more consideration. As for enclosures, reverse the concept within both of your North and South units in Scotland. Residences and communities could be protected in such a manner although I defer to the authorities in Banff National Park in Alberta; they deal with all of these public safety issues on a daily basis. The European Brown Bear in Scotland is a tall mountain for the British people to climb. An inventory of bear browse/graze species needs to be conducted; major reforestation needs to be in progress; major salmon runs need to be repaired (this is expensive). The people of Scotland would have to be prepared.

[@yetimelly523]

Not enough food in UK woodlands/rivers for Moose, Elk, and Bears.

[@mattrishton]

Just put a fence round The Forest of Bowland; remove the sheep and ‘Shake o Presto’ instant rewilding reserve. The first and greatest in the world. Tourism would go mad; it would be like visiting Jurassic Park. Incidentally the wolf is remembered in many local place names; we have ‘Wolf Hole Crag, Wolf fell, Fiendsdale.’ Also the last wolf in England was said to have been killed on Humprey head just across Morecambe bay near to Ulveston (meaning ‘Wolfs Town’).

[@Headin_South]

Bonkers! Every bear you release into our "wilderness" areas is going to immediately migrate to the nearest town to ransack the bins. And fences, have you not seen Jurassic park 🤣. I love your enthusiasm tho.

[@LeaveCurious]

haha I loved Jurassic park as a kid... we're lucky we don't have to coexist with dinosaurs

[@MizLee963]

Where I live, in New York's Hudson Valley, we coexist peaceably with black bears. A bear has occasionally come from the woods behind my house to enjoy the garbage or the seeds in the bird feeder, sometimes heading down the driveway to the cornfield across the road. When they come near the house, my husband has successfully chased them off by blowing a stadium horn of the type sports fans like to take to games. They have sometimes caused automobile accidents in the area, though this is pretty rare. Deer cause many more.

[@greatspottedwoodpeck]

My cousin Louis lives in Nova Scotia for much of the year and regularly sees black bears on his frequent hillwalks. They don't frighten him, he says; he is more afraid of coywolves (wolf-coyote hybrid), which are dangerous and can attack humans.

[@aaronkirk9529]

Its honestly really great to see a video that takes a look into a scenario that I’ve actually pondered about for a while 😂. At least in my personal opinion, I think the introduction of a species like the black bear is definitely feasible, as they are a highly adaptable species, perhaps even the most out of all bear species, & that it’s very true that black bears are less confrontational. Though, as some others have put it, like many other reintroduction & introductions, the ground works would need to be laid before anything could really take off. Something in particular with the black bear that would need to be considered would be the biomass of vegetation like berries & nuts for the bears to graze as they are omnivores & would this behaviour have any significant impacts on the native species in the area? Also a very good argument that can be made is that previous attempts of introducing species from the states haven’t gone well. Grey squirrels perhaps the best example of which. Though it’s fair to also say this was a long time ago & research/planning has definitely come a long way since then. So.. I think it’s fair to say both sides have decent points, though in reality, with a country that is scared by the idea of reintroducing a shy mid size cat, I doubt we’ll be seeing Baloo for a while yet 😂

[@aaronkirk9529]

Also love the idea of the fenced reserve. Of course, practices like that accrue in African & Asian nations, unfortunately some are for hunting 😒, but in others, eco tourism is the driving factor, which could be basis for such a project. I’m also pretty confident such a project like that is trying to be completed in Alladale, Scotland with wolves, boar & moose being realised into a fenced zone on the basis of conservation, research & tourism. However the Scottish National trust & government have made any progress extremely difficult due to conflict over the freedom of movement laws

[@LeaveCurious]

Spot on Aaron, I think you've summed up the discussion well. We have to keep working for the Lynx, then who knows what predators may follow in the decades after.

[@jasonrobinson9001]

Good video. We always need creative discussion. And, ur right, we’ve put way more effort into much more difficult tasks - usually with corporate funding though. I wonder if a biodiversity credit system would ever get wings?

[@vickiwalker3486]

Go for it! Absolutely start with highly secured large wild areas with bears, wolves and their neighboring animals. I’m from San Diego and have had numerous encounters with black bears in Kings Canyon National Park, from a distance. One time I watched a bear climb into my car and stay until it had finished off a bag of marshmallows etc. and the Rangers finally encouraged it to leave. The Park has since developed successful strategies to reduce bear encounters with humans. Of course this would not be a problem with the initial stages of a rewilding program. BTW, Rangers caught the bear who’d been in my car by baiting a harm-free trap. With marshmallows.

[@taraelizabethdensley9475]

I shouldn't be laughing, but i would not have thought a bear would eat marshmallows. The cheek of it 😂

[@simonball9326]

Hi rob. Simon from sheffield. I know the owner of The MFI furniture family had a scottish estate and he fenced off some of it for moose. However he was stopped from introducing wolves to a larger are fenced as british law stops you putting preditor and prey in an enclosure.

[@MegaDeepRoots]

I love your idea about a large enclosure (1K-4K+ acres) for a family of black bears. Lynx are a shoe-in and should happen fairly soon in Scotland. I watched a great video about Germany's Wild Wolves and they really aren't a threat to people at all. I see Lynx in the UK first followed by wolves and then black and or brown bears in a very large rewilding Reserve. The wood Bison you guys have are in a very large enclosure. It's a great way to give it a controlled go and do a bunch of research to inform how to go forward and expand rewilding these glorious animals.

[@Gamer-Rex]

Yeah, but if you watched Steve back shore, he says “if you ever see a bear don’t panick, if you’re in large groups then start screaming and shouting but if you’re alone just go hey bears”

[@LeaveCurious]

Gotta love Steve and he's right. Being vocal can often get a bear to back away

[@ParadoxysPlayground]

I live in Canada, in the mountains. I have run into black and brown bears, and I have never felt threatened. Usually, if you shout at them, they run off. Of course, you have to exercise common sense, and be cautious, but seriously, I go hiking all the time, and never really worry. Grizzlies, now, are scary.

[@thedamnedatheist]

You can't rewild successfully without large carnivores unless you want to cull old weak & sick grazers, bring back wolves & bears, even larger cats. There need to be huge rewilding reserves. Fence of half a dozen national parks & AONBs & set them aside for rewilding. People can still enter, but will need to understand the risks.

[@LeaveCurious]

I hear you David and I agree with you - but so many of our national parks and AONBs have multiple landowners/ land uses. At the moment, the black bear might be step too far, but the Lynx is much closer.

[@redginrai664]

I think we should bring back the bears for sure. We should accommodate them as they were once apart of the British Isles. Iit will take a monumental effort and I hope in 10 years or so we can make this happen. Love the videos...

[@LeaveCurious]

Love your optimism!

[@robcaputo9708]

I live in Toronto Canada. There have been black bears not far from me all my life. As a child, I snuck honey in the car when we went camping so that I can smear it all over a rock at night to attract bears, successful. I would watch them in the night while everybody else was asleep. I’ve run into them while hiking. I’ve seen signs of them numerous times. It is true that every 10 years or so, there is an attack. There are things you need to know if you go out into Bear country . I routinely pack bear spray. Some of the comments about food supply are valid that this video makes from what I understand not that I’m an expert or biologist or anything. But I have run into I would estimate somewhere between 15 and 20 bears in the wild. Far harder to come across a wolf which I’ve also seen in the wild , and even more dangerous than either of those I’ve run across the wolverine. There has never been any harm to me or the animal while I’ve had pepper spray in those situations I’ve never had to use it. I’ve had it ready, but never had to use it. You’re being too timid .

[@jamessomerville.1999]

I think it would be incredible to have these lovely creatures in the U.K. but I think a LOT more research needs to happen I think the best thing to start off with would be to reintroduce the Lynx as soon as possible.

[@S.Trades]

Lynx are already here.

[@christinecollins6389]

Interesting idea

[@TheAdrian229]

I like the idea. Cause black bear are great around humans, and they bearly kill anyone. They are much more adaptive, and very smart. Perfect for UK 🇬🇧

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah agreed, they’re definitely a better fit when the time is right!

[@lanecostilow6959]

Remember, bears can climb. No fence would keep them in.

[@thomasmoore5949]

This is very interesting. Particularly the idea that it might be easier to live with smaller bears. There are smaller European brown bears in the balkans I believe. ???

[@EnglishOrthodox]

Not worth it, do these people realise that 90% of us are going to get drunk and fight a bear

[@sarantissporidis391]

Bears have never gone extinct in Greece and their population have been on the rise for quite some time now. Yet, the last fatal incident was 20 years ago, and there's at least 500 of them living here. There's also a 40 member strong wolf pack living just 20 klms away from the center of Athens, in one of the most widely visited national park of the country. No fatal encounters have been recorded there either, since 2014 when the pack was first spotted. Now, Greece is also densely populated, so in my opinion there won't be any problems for the UK either.

[@shawnohagan5503]

Great video

[@LeaveCurious]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@denasewell]

Bears have been used as attractions such as circus acts as well as zoo's that go back to when Rome ruled the UK...So I think that is what they referred to as "entertainment purposes"

[@jbarnard2000]

The reserve could be uninhabited islands of Scotland or the very top of the highlands

[@LeaveCurious]

Very good point, I wonder if any of the islands are big enough?

[@michaelogle1315]

Don't forget that black bears are very fond of tree sap in the spring and are a real problem in Oregon (home to 25,000 black bears), girdeling thousands of trees which results in death.

[@LeaveCurious]

This is a very good point, Michael. I'll look into this

[@kendallkahl8725]

Having a sattelite population of black bears would be great but their biggest ecological function is spreading salmon nutrients into the woods and British salmon fishermen might object. Eventually it would improve the salmon runs but that would take a little time.

[@Sprigatito687]

I think there are black bears in Europe how do you think they end up in Asia

[@elyzsabethahne2116]

Please, are you referring to the North American black bear, or is there another black bear species in Europe and/or Asia?

[@LeaveCurious]

North American black

[@Johnjohn-zf1op]

Let’s make a super rewinding national park😍

[@annekabrimhall1059]

Wealthy landowners in the UK have set aside large patches, so they can fox hunt or hunt deer without the poor poaching them. I think it could be done for bears!

[@_________.]

Pretty sure the best represented in that DiCaprio movie was a grizzly bear

[@raphlvlogs271]

a life form doesn't always have to be native to be beneficial to the eco system

[@LeaveCurious]

Agreed, when looking to introduce, why not consider all options?

[@royhay5741]

Eurasian brown bears or no bears. I want to introduce (or reintroduce) Komodo dragons to hunt positive invasive species, including the water buffalo, camel, brumby and donkey which have replaced our extinct megafauna. Brown bears will be able to defend themselves from wolf packs. Reintroducing large herbivores like European bison, aurochs, wild horses and others requires both apex predators otherwise it'll be unbalanced. Black bears are incapable of hunting such powerful animals. I love your solution, as it's the only way they'd be safe from humans - massive reserves. Ideas like that change the world.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah if we’re reducing predators/ herbivores we really have to consider the balance - something which would be easier in massive reserves!

[@connorhaley3190]

@@LeaveCurious For god sake, talk about the wolverine! Also why the American black bear, why not the Asiatic.

[@salvadormartinez3840]

black bear can hunt those animals and have before.

[@royhay5741]

@@salvadormartinez3840 they're not a substitute for brown bears.

[@jamesbohlman4297]

The Black bear in North America has adapted to humans. It can take up a different niche than the Grizzly. Scotland has room for both.

[@davidmills4643]

Hi Rob it's Tina I think bears are a step to far, in America they have miles of space and plenty of guns, we have a lot less space, but yes having a vast enclosure with wolves and lynx as a trial would be good to see what happens, not sure about packs of wolves in the long term again I don't think we have the space but the lynx I think would be a great addition love the vlog

[@LeaveCurious]

I agree with you. As things currently stand in the UK it does seem a little too far. Thank yous for commenting Tina!

[@huldu]

But we don't really work like that do we? It's not like we're going out of our way to make bears all over the world go extinct because there are fatalities. That's my point. These are wild animals and should be treated with respect and if they were somewhere and they're not there anymore because of us humans then that's our fault and it's our duty to restore balance. We have bears around here too and I can't even remember the last time someone was wounded or even killed by one. It's more likely that you'll get put down while going to the grocery store through a dark tunnel with some drug dealers in it(not even joking sadly because this happened a few weeks ago, someone was killed in front of their son, madness). That's real life right there. I'm not trying to be morbid but seriously even if someone were to get wounded or die it's life, trying to prevent nature is why we're here in the first place. To me it sounds as silly as trying to prevent lightning storms because people die from them. Come on. It's our fault most invasive animals are a thing, it's our fault that many species are wiped out in areas. It's our duty as humans to try our best to restore the balance like I said previously. Sorry for the long rant. We are not alone on this planet, we are not divine beings, we are like every other living organism here.

[@indyreno2933]

There are fifteen extant bear species within five genera and two subfamilies, a bear is any carnivoran that belongs to the family Ursidae, all bears have the ability to roar, living bears are native everywhere except for Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica, although, bears used to live in Africa but are extinct there Taxonomy: • Family: Ursidae (Bears) •• Subfamily: Tremarctinae (Short-Faced Bears) ••• Genus: Tremarctos (Spectacled Bear Lineage) •••• Species: Tremarctos ornatus (Spectacled Bear) •• Subfamily: Ursinae (Long-Snouted Bears) ••• Tribe: Melursini (Sloth Bears and Fossil Relatives) •••• Genus: Melursus (Sloth Bears) ••••• Species: Melursus ursinus (Indian Sloth Bear) ••••• Species: Melursus inornatus (Sri Lanka Sloth Bear) ••• Tribe: Ursini (Small-Eared Bears) •••• Subtribe: Helarctina (Sun Bears and Fossil Relatives) ••••• Genus: Helarctos (Sun Bears) •••••• Species: Helarctos indochinensis (Indochinese Sun Bear) •••••• Species: Helarctos malayanus (Sumatran Sun Bear) •••••• Species: Helarctos euryspilus (Bornean Sun Bear) •••• Tribe: Ursina (Common Bears) ••••• Genus: Euarctos (New World Common Bears) •••••• Species: Euarctos americanus (American Black Bear) •••••• Species: Euarctos emmonsii (Glacier Bear) •••••• Species: Euarctos cinnamomum (Cinnamon Bear) •••••• Species: Euarctos kermodei (Kermode Bear) ••••• Genus: Ursus (Old World Common Bears) •••••• Species: Ursus arctos (Brown Bear) •••••• Species: Ursus syriacus (Silver Bear) •••••• Species: Ursus pruinosus (Blue Bear) •••••• Species: Ursus thibetanus (Asiatic Black Bear) •••••• Species: Ursus maritimus (Polar Bear)

[@LeaveCurious]

Awesome!!

[@SmedleyDouwright]

Asiatic Black Bear is a close relative of the American Black Bear, but it is more aggressive.

[@lucykelly7152]

The northern part of Scotland, above Lock Ness, would be good. We should bring lions back, too.

[@matthewconstantine5015]

I grew up in the U.S. state of Maine, where we have plenty of black bears. They can be a bit of a pest, coming up on your porch & knocking stuff over, that kind of thing. But that's about it.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah I could this slight inconvenience, stemming to something much bigger in the UK....

[@rbj5767]

Great Idea❣️🙏🌍🐻👑🐺🦹‍♀️💫💋💢

[@joannemason262]

The first thing I want to say is I like the way you think! My name is Joanne, I am a 50 plus year old woman, I live alone in a tiny home, off grid, in a farming community in Upstate New York, in the US. I have lived in this area since 2001, and people always told me there were bears here. But until 2022 I had never seen one. Then, one morning, at 4:30am, as I was leaving for work, I saw a large black shape gallop across the dirt road in front of me! I knew it was a bear! Later that day I stopped at the neighbors house to let them know I had seen a bear and they told me it had been raiding their bird feeders. I want to emphasize some key points in this story. 1) I lived here for twenty years before seeing a bear. 2) Black bears like food. 3) Black bears are not an issue with livestock in my farming community, (coyotes are considered pests and are hunted) though high fat bird seed and suet will attract them! My interpretation of this experience is that bears are intelligent enough to understand that people are dangerous and should be avoided. LOL, I may be in sympathy with them on that one! As you explained, areas where bears are used to people see fewer fatal attacks, but that's here in the US. I don't want to seem arrogant, but the US is considerably larger than the UK, and several of our national parks are bigger than Scotland or England. It is probably that any bears reintroduced to the UK will become used to seeing people and will learn to avoid them. IF that is, people make the effort to NOT FEED them. Also, since you would be importing bears, you could choose to do so from an area where bears are already wary of people. I hope the rewilding of Britain continues. It is both thrilling and humbling to share space with other species, consciously. Best of luck! Joanne

[@SmedleyDouwright]

Black bears are very strong with big claws and teeth. They seem to live well with people for the most part. California has a brown bear on their flag, but no wild brown bears in their state because brown bears don't live with people nearly as well as black bears. California has many wild black bears.

[@LeaveCurious]

That was my belief, but its seems like either bear isn't without its troubles to man

[@ajaxtelamonian5134]

That's a rather nice way of saying they murdered them all.

[@alessandromilitano8913]

In South Africa fencing is one of the most common methods of mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. That is why today in South Africa there are more animals today than 100 years ago. It is not a perfekt solution but nothing is possible without some compromise. Besides the local people could live of ecological tourism, becouse nature is a source of income too.

[@LeaveCurious]

I imagine that the fences are around reserves? You’re right it could make great money. Doesn’t always have to be predators introduced to create a business around it too

[@LithaMoonSong]

I live in Canada, I have had 3 bear encounters in my 57 years, unless you have thousands of acres of completely unpopulated ranges for bears, I don't recommend bringing them in.

[@LeaveCurious]

I think I do agree, this video was a bit of fun, but in reality, they need large natural space like where you are in Canada

[@henddaer]

I fell in love with black bears living in western Canada. However, our society is so far from accepting predators in the way in which they do and black bears in particular, are going to gravitate towards urban food sources. I actually think the native brown is the way to go, they'll need larger spaces but lets be honest, there is really only a handful of areas in the UK where their reintroduction is likely to work. 70% of the UK is farmed and as such, its the farmers you've really got to get on board for projects involving predators. Love the idea, but I think its only right to bring back the brown!

[@xanderomeister7828]

I disagree somewhat with the introduction of bears in general. Among britain's previously present carnivores, they probably are among the more confrontational and likely prone to conflict without any boundaries set due to their diet. IMO lynx and wolves are considerably more reasonable reintroduction options, simply because they arent particularly dangerous to people, and boundaries are somewhat easier to set.

[@ashtonwood2880]

WE will have to adapt, this is FAR more important than a mild inconvenience to us. We have decimated our countries wildlife, we are one of the least wild countries in the world, the public will just have to suck it up and adapt.

[@profeseurchemical]

Interesting that it's the lack of familiarity with human's that leads to deadly encounters. kinda a two way street there. I Think it really points in favour of active management and human involvement in our wild spaces. just informed, educated, and purposeful. Specifically in the american context, I wonder the extent to which bears were a problem when the indigenous peoples of the areas were still in control of it's usage? Compared to now when these environments have been effectively hollowed out of humans.

[@ethanpeeler3147]

It just doesn’t make sense to me to introduce a species that wasn’t there in the first place.

[@lucykelly7152]

We should have brown bears. Just get some small ones, from Europe. Start with them up in Scotland, where there are plenty of deer.

[@dudalina9223]

I don't get the point of reintroducing animals just to put them in a restricted area, as big as the "super rewilding reserve" may be. Areas outside of it will still have issues that the reintroduction of species set out to solve, and fencing the whole area could be bad if, say, something happened in it that threatened the population

[@vincenthickey8622]

You missed one point. The north American population is used to black bears in the environment. This community has knowledge of what to do and act. A UK population would be missing that knowledge. A key difference to be sure. But hell ya, that could learn it, and that education must come along with bear reintroduction.

[@jameshudson169]

Yeah, a park. Could have safaris. Paths. Get some tourist dollars.

[@tomr200199]

I personally wouldn't push for bears to be released in the UK at the moment, we have a long way to go before we get landowners and the public on side and understanding the advantages of having such animals here. Get Wolves and Lynx in and accepted first, and then maybe a few decades down the line Bears would be a more relevant point of discussion, but even then, I'm just not sure.

[@JohnHall623]

If I may ask, why not speak about the bears in the Pyrenees? They have been efforts to reintroduce them for at least 2 decades (as far as I can remember, being French myself). Though it's really hard going as several died and cohabitation with the sheepherders is...difficult. That said, it's ongoing, and I'm sure there's a lot to learn from it!

[@michaelavila9871]

why don't introduce the Iberian brown bear which is close to the indigenous in Britain and is about the same size of the black bear and less aggressive and shyer, and more importantly is used to small areas

[@skyrocket0113]

Thanks mate, a really interesting vid. I definitely think the lynx should be reintroduced. As for wolf & bear, I don't think we have the habitat for them. We have far too many immigrants coming into the UK & they've gotta be housed. Although lynx could survive quite comfortably in the UK, we just wouldn't have room for wolves & black bears mate.👍

[@georginacox7292]

Just now Google news big cat spotted Chester

[@georginacox7292]

Yes

[@victoriasalter1701]

I love all animals and one of my favourite animals is the wolf. However, while in an ideal world, we would be able to re-introduce the European brown bear to the UK, I really don’t know that it’s that realistic, at least for a long time yet. The Wolf and the lynx are more realistic.

[@TacticalCaveman997]

From the United States here. My state is getting used to its growing black bear population and its going really well. I believe the last bear attack here was in the 1800s. Just don't be stupid if you have an encounter 😅

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah, for the most part, aggressive attacks seem like they can be avoided.

[@johnr8308]

The positives do not outweigh the risks. If one death is caused by the reintroduction, which eventually it will be, all public support will be lost. Also, there is not the wilderness in the UK for them at all

[@PeopleAreFish]

Linxes and wolfs im 100% on board with sfter some trials, education and policy. Bears terrify me genuinely don't think the UK has spsce for them anymore sadly

[@richardmuskett931]

I'd like to see all species of bear , and maybe a few tigers too, introduced into number 10 Downing St and the house of commons too.......as soon as possible please !

[@LeaveCurious]

now that would be very interesting Richard! next video coming right up

[@Thesandchief]

i think the syrian brown bear should be introduced to the Atlas brown bear's former range. since the atlas bear is extinct another species of bear being introduced would be good. i choose the syrian brown bear because they are under a lot of pressure and having a backup population would be good for them.

[@frednewman209]

Asian black bear would be perfect. They lived in Britain in the pleistocene.

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah, I think I may make a future video on this Fred Cheers

[@frankvehafric5062]

I live in the Pacific Northwest of the US - western Oregon, and my basic assumption is that every time I go into the forest, I'm probably, most of the time, within a few hundred yards of a black bear or cougar, maybe both. We rarely encounter each other. We also have our predator-phobes in the US, though. Many people still want to see wolves exterminated. Wolf reintroduction remains a very hot topic despite success stories like Yellowstone. And no state has ventured to reintroduce grizzlies into an area where they formerly ranged but have been extirpated. In Oregon, a few wolves are extending their range from Idaho but many ranchers illegally kill them on sight. I think it's a generational/regional culture thing though. No amount of educating and building trust seems to matter. There always seems to be a few willing to take the law into their own hands when it comes to predators. I'm in my 70s now and still camp and hike every chance I get, and I hope and pray, that before I am too old to continue, I will be privileged to hear wild wolves, some moonlit night, in the Cascade range.

[@toffeebluenose7331]

Funny to think my dogs true diet is that of wolves and bears. Watched plenty of YT black bear encounters in the states small towns will hand feed black bears. Educate the young on the dangers of bears is a good start.

[@LeaveCurious]

For sure, educting UK future generations all about rewilding & predators is key

[@budgiebreeding]

so... the whole landscape is checkered with fenced fields, literally thousands upon thousands of miles of fences... so what's the big deal with fencing a nature reserve? oh. no profit motive... but maybe a profit motive can be established?

[@LeaveCurious]

Yeah definitely, provide a luxury eco-tourism venture - accommodation, tours, cuisine, rigorously study the impacts, provide courses/education relating to rewilding, create media content within the area, youtube videos/mainstream media programs, practice regenerative agriculture, run experiment after experiment.... it can be done

[@klaasdeboer8106]

Maybe irrational, I am completely comfortable with wolves in the netherlands, but bears? I find it a bit scary

[@chetisanhart3457]

I'm an American of high british content. I used to live in England so I know what your landscape is like compared to my native Michigan. Black bear would be an invasive species so that makes no sense. Over 20 countries in the region have brown bear. Get a couple from each country and put them in the least populated areas. A few thousand dead sheep later and you'll realize why the were removed to start with. Good luck.