Man in bear costume harasses actual bears


A man wearing a "fairly realistic bear costume" harassed an actual mother bear and her two cubs while they were feeding in a river in Alaska, The Associated Press reports. A crowd of observers who weren't inclined to be eaten by a large carnivorous mammal had been viewing the mother and her cubs from a safe distance, as the hungry trio had been showing up frequently to feed at the salmon run near Haines, Alaska. However, a man dressed as a bear — head included — startled the onlookers when he raced up to the cubs and started jumping up and down near them.
Alaska Fish and Game technician Lou Cenicola moved the sow out the way for the man's safety and then tried to talk to the man, which [Fish and Game Assistant Area Management Biologist Mark] Sogge said is a little outside Cenicola's normal duties."Our job is to count fish," Sogge said. [AP]
The man then got in his car and left without ever removing the bear costume.
"This is not the first time we've encountered a man in a bear suit," said a Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman, for whom apparently nothing in the world is novel.
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The AP reports that it "wasn't immediately known" what the bear-man was trying to accomplish.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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