After seeing these recent videos on social media of Gatlinburg Tennessee Bears getting close to people, we wanted to talk with TWRA and go over Is it safe, how you can prevent incidents like this and what you should do if you do find yourself in a close encounter with black bear in The Smokies.

I don’t know what people do not understand! Give bears a wide berth. People please learn that a fed bear is a dead bear. 🐻 please learn this and know it.

I posted 3 videos of vacation tv feeding bears at his cabin. I called the wildlife department and I was informed it is not illegal to feed bears unless it happens in the national park. This law needs to be changed asap

Gatlinburg’s new slogan is “a fed bear is a dead bear.” Respect our bears! Thank you for sharing the message.

As long as they continue to cover the mountains with carnival attractions and cabin rental clusters, little will change. The area is now marketed more towards those wanting to connect with the carnival rather than those looking to connect with nature. When a bear visits their cabin, parents allow the kids to feed the bears like they would feed the goats, it’s part of their carnival experience. Unfortunately the fed bear becomes a dead bear.

Be a good human. Please dont feed our bears. Ryan thank you for spreading the word.

We live about 5 miles from the Bush’s Bean plant. We have had several instances of a Mama Bear with a yearling getting near our house. The yearling was on our front deck once and startled me as much as I startled him. We are always mindful to not leave or put food or trash outside. Respect their territory and people will be fine. Unfortunate that people have been feeding them and are inviting this behavior now.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this!!! I consider myself a very compassionate animal lover. Part of that compassion is following the rules of not feeding wildlife. Black bears are highly intelligent creatures. Unfortunately, they will take the easy pickings for food; handouts, garbage, etc. As a biologist and college professor, I emphasize to my students the importance of good stewardship; don't feed them (no matter how cute they are) and try to keep food contained. It's so sad to hear of a bear being euthanized for being a repeat offender, but these poor animals have become so acclimated to our presence that they can't survive well on their own. Many of these bears whose stomachs have been analyzed following euthanasia have aluminum foil and plastics in their gut. So, they're gastrointestinal health is compromised, and they're suffering. In a town like Gatlinburg, there are so many tempting food smells in the air. That's no fault of us humans, but when these guys venture too close over and over again, the only humane thing to do is euthanize. Still, it's not the outcome we wish to see. Here is a link I use to prompt discussions about this topic with my students: home.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/black-bears.htm

Thanks for the information. I have experienced a black bear walking back to my car with friends in the evening in downtown Gatlinburg. We stopped and let the black bear cross the street and into an alley. It was dumpster diving. We as humans have to remember we are in their territory and treat bears with respect(meaning don’t feed them). Also reporting bears when need to is important to protect everyone (bears & humans).

They are starving . People and traffic constantly. They have still not recovered from the fire devastation that destroyed their natural habitat in this area.

Unfortunately, another PART of the problem is the park, since it is a protected area, I think the park could be over populated with bears & the competition between bears for food is increasing. However, rather than leaving the park in search for food, they go to where there smell food. If more people would follow this , man's instructions, the bears would be better off. THANX for a great informative video.

Best bear video yet.

We were at Anakeesta that evening last week. I was at the ramp going down to where the bird houses are and looked down and saw the bear just below me on the ground. My husband had went down the steps walking around where the kids come off the slides and come back up. He didn't know about the bear and came within 30 feet from the bear he needed to redirect the kids running around down there away from where the bear was. We did see Anakeesta security out there pretty quick looking for the bear.

Thank you for posting this. I’m gona post it on my fb page so people will hear this. The last time my husband and I were there we were going to our cabin and saw 3 bears around the corner from our cabin. Our cabin’s AC compressor ended up being broken. It was summer and really really hot. We had to kind of keep the doors open and I was afraid those bears might make there way over to us but they never did. I ended up putting the fireplace cover in the front door. And windows open but the back door was on a hill and it could have gotten in if it wanted too, but I kept it shut. They gave us a better cabin, and extra night for free. But fortunately the bears never came around.

Wishing visitors just leave the DA BEARSSS alone and don't feed them. We fell in love with Gatlinburg and the state of Tennessee ❤

The city needs to crack down on businesses trash cans and dumpster. The last 3 or 4 visits we have seen them get into ones that were not bear proof or broken. They should be denied business licenses/renewals if they don’t follow the rules. The pizza place beside Ober and the tattoo shop was the last two places we witnessed it.

There are pictures of this same thing happening in the 1920’s. Not a new problem.

Friday morning, my wife and I are leaving our hotel room for breakfast when we immediately noticed numerous people on our floor (4th) and below us all gawking and pointing. My first thought was it a celebrity?? My inquiry was soon answered by a small bear making its way onto our floor, obviously looking for something to eat. What was surprising was no one seemed overly afraid, instead looking to take pictures and videos. Someone finally said that it was trapped and probably looking to go back the way it came. I was in awe at the many parents that had kids with them more concerned about getting pictures. I get it, it was a cool moment BUT what if the momma bear would have been close behind?? Luckily a good ending for all involved …. This time. This took place at Crossroads Inn & Suites.

Man is taking over the bear's habitat. They need to STOP BUILDING ALL OVER THE COUNTRYSIDE.

I have been to Gatlinburg countless times and never had a problem with aggressive bears. I have seen them around town a few times but if you keep your distance and definitely don't feed them, you will be fine. That seems like common sense, they are wild animals. There needs to be strict penalties if you are caught feeding a bear. I don't think there are any, I may be wrong. Great educational video, thanks Ryan.

Thank you for this video. I'm coming there in October for vacation. I was there last year. We stayed at Glenstone Lodge. They told us not to leave food in our truck because bears will try everything to get to it. We did see some bears on the Historical Trail by car. They were out about 5:30pm. We never saw them on the streets. Thanks Matt for I r giving us a lesson on bears. Very informative. I took a picture of the phone number. Hope I won't need to use it. Lol.

Absolutely PERFECT video!! So much information in just a few minutes. I hope people watch this video and take it to heart!

Good information thanks Ryan

Excellent video Ryan! Very informative and detailed with cause and effect. I, like many who watch this video, have learned many things that I did not know before. Stay cool in this summer heat !

We see bears all the time 🐻 Here in Cali(LA) Respect nature!!

Great PSA, Ryan! After seeing the video of a bear near The Peddler a while back, I've wondered how dangerous those encounters were. It would certainly freak me out! The interview with Matthew was a great idea.

Thank you for your prospective.

Great info everyone needs know this Thank you so much for sharing 👍👍

Thank you. Very informative

Great info for safety and prevention-interview with Matthew was informative.

Very well done and very educational. Thank you so much for informing the visitors that we are in the bears environment. We can change our behaviors and theirs for the better if we follow the rules and nit feed the bears.

A little advice….. If you are staying in a cabin and a bear approaches the Cabin or Car, use your Key Fob to scare them. It honestly works very well. At first, just hit the lock button so the horn beeps, if the Bear still gets too close for comfort then hit the Red Panic button and watch the Bear take off. It is more effective than banging pots and pans for noise, that only ruins pots and pans.

Thank you so much for sharing this information and thank you to Matthew. It is greatly appreciated!

Good video Ryan ! I have bears on my property and I never..ever feed them. ( They like my vegetables though ). Electric fences really work great. We’ve overdeveloped the land and let’s face it..some people are just stupid..” here’s your sign“ 😊. Thanks for posting this 👍

Such a great video with good information!

Great info. Thank you

Thanks for the informative video, Ryan. We have problems with alligators down here in S Louisiana where I live. People at work were constantly feeding the gators. When they started coming out of the water and walking up to the people, security at work caught and killed the gators. Despite signs all over, people continued to feed them, and these amazing creatures ended up losing their lives. I hate to see the same thing happening with those beautiful bears.

Well done! This gets necessary info out there, and dispels any Gatlinburg rumors. Sorry for all the bad news, bears! Haha

Great video Ryan. 😊this is A very important video. People need yo know why they are not to feed the bears. You did a fantastic job with this video. Excellent interview Excellent information. Well done as always Ryan! Keep pushing the plow! Keep up the great work. Godbless you brother.

I have a video of a trip walking downtown Gatlinburg and a very large black bear deciding to take a leisurely walk. I was surprised at the amount of people that wanted to run up close to it and get a picture. 😮

Thank you for this video very very informative

Thanks for the information. We will be in that area August 5-10. This is our first family trip to the area, and the info you provided did put us at ease!

Very interesting. Good information. We are always excited to see bears.....at a distance!

Good informative video. Thanks

A couple weeks ago we rented a cabin in Gatlinburg. Spent the day at Dollywood and when we came back to the cabin there were two bears mating in the driveway. 😳

So glad you posted this video. We saw a mom and 3 cubs feeding out of a trash can in the Glades Road area last year. I was trying to find a number to call to report it. I will certainly keep the TWRA number handy when we come down in a few weeks...seems like a lot more bear sightings this year. It's not going to deter us (Uncle Eddie is staying home though).

I think Uncle Eddy drove by you there in the first part of the video, I saw his old motorhome. 🤣😂 Thanks for sharing this informative video.

Aerosol Spray cans... Doesn't matter what's in it. The sound will make them run away. They think the hissing sound is a snake. My family used to camp in Yosemite when I was a kid and bears were super common and they had several encounters with them. They have old 8mm video I've seen of my uncle chasing them out of the campground area with aerosol cans. Just make sure they are not cornered and do not run away from them. The old brochures given to campers used to advise people about using aerosol cans.

Will be in GB in just on 4 weeks time! Can't wait! As an Australian, we're used to dangerous bears - our Drop Bears. Hope the lady at the food truck is fine. Great interview and tips from the bear expert - nice!

We were there last week, never saw a bear but heard about both these incidents.

I live really close to Gatlinburg Tennessee but I'm in Kentucky and there's lots of black bears where we're from and it's very common to see them on the walking paths and hiking paths we use cattle prods it don't hurt the bear it just puts him to sleep long enough for you to get away to safety....

This video was so well done. I love the interview, better than news reporters! I have a question… my husband and I hope to retire to east TN and we always wonder about cooking on the grill. We love to cook out and wondered what your experience with that is… does it attract bears, even after the fact do they smell the food? Especially now that Matt said in the interview that bear noses are 7 times stronger than a hound!

Thanks for sharing this information. Do you think with all the heavy building and construction that has driven bears out of their habitat??

Thank you for sharing. We've been coming to Gatlinburg for many years but for now, I am not interested in staying there anymore. We had one in the parking lot of our hotel, and terrified me forever. Our elevator opened onto the parking lot so everytime we had to use it, I had a panic attack that the door would open and there he'd be. In fact, he climbed the stairs as well, so opening our door was scary too. We told them in the front office, and the girl just said "Yeah, that happens all the time"....and that's it. We won't be staying there again for sure. I don't care WHY they are coming around people, I don't want to be near one. If we come again, we'll stay in Pigeon forge. I know they're also there, but much less sightings.

If it makes anyone feel safe just know that my family has come to pigeon forge/gatlinburg since 2008 for about a month each year and we have never run or seen a black bear out and about. People look at us like we are crazy when we tell them that but it's true. The closest we came to seeing one ended up being a dog lol.

Well said Ryan good information. My Husband an i will be in the area August 15-18.

Great video

That was biggest fear while being there. Crazy thing is that we Anakeesta 2 days before when the bear attacked a concession worker. Great video man. You were my main source of research going there.

Wow- great video! Thanks for being an advocate for bear and human safety. Hearing the messages from a local and an expert is a great combo!

Thanks for the information, Ryan. All people need to know this information. Feeding bears makes these beautiful animals lose their lives. Let them use their natural instincts to survive. Man destoys most all of God's nature and creations. This was a great video. Great job.

Wow thank you so informative! I’m scared of bears

Great video. I’m not nervous at all. But would you still recommend bringing bear spay if you go hiking in the Smokies? What about the local trails?

Thanks for the informative video. In your opinion Ryan, what is a bigger concern, alligators or bear?

Not me spotting my family walking past you in the crosswalk. 😂 We heard you talking and did a double take 😂

Love you talking about the bears being misunderstood! I am from Alabama. I grew up in Mobile AL and I have a love of marine life. I recently was at the beach and people where concerned about sharks I am only concerned about sharks if there are other small fish or schools of fish around then I won't get in the water otherwise when I'm at the beach I'm not concerned because I understand that sharks are going to follow small fish so if I'm at the beach and their are no fish around me I feel safe. When as an Alabama I visit those beautiful Smoky mountains in the fall and spring I don't worry about those bears I understand their habitat and their behaviors. My children have grown up loving to watch the TV show Wild krats and they school me on everything about nature!

We will be in Gatlinburg next week! Looking forward to it! Your videos have been extremely helpful! Thank you!

Thanks because I was definitely nervous. We’ll be there next week and Uncle Eddie will not be there 😂😂😂

You do not mess with California brown bears at all. Definitely not cuddly.

We don't have a bear problem, we have a " people feeding the bears" problem!!

Great video for what to do if we make contact with a Bear

Me and my wife has been to the smokies mountains a lot of times we have yet seen a black bear

Ryan where did you get that hat? I been looking for one!!!

I have a bear that is friendly and I don’t have to feed him. Cause he is already stuffed. But seriously, if I see a bear, I know what to do. Thanks for this.

Overdevlopement of the area and mountains doesn't help either.....

Bottom line is that folks need to STOP feeding bears thinking they are so cute. I worked for several months in Gatlinburg “Cobbly Nob Village” as an armed security officer. Twice had to deploy non-lethal force to remove bears. Both times in the same cabin rental. Bears know where there’s food or where they got fed. It is not their fault how comfortable they become around us.

Last I'd add that bears more often than people feed them, come in contact with food in other ways. Any litter, food on the ground, on the streets, camps, dumpsters are all places bears can become familiar with food. Much higher probability than claims of people feeding them. Relocation has worked in other parts of the country because of this reason. A bears hunting actions are a direct result of the food that is available to them. Natural food they eat in the wild. No bear that is relocated after eating out a dumpster is going to lay down and die, not be in a massive rush to get back home because they forgot how to hunt, gather and eat in the wild. The speaker made some great points but ask yourself this. If relocation fails, why do we relocate other animals and some are bears and it's successful but bears certain areas say it does not work? They sure relocated the elk that are thriving in NC, red and grey wolf as well. I think it's more about budget than about, "oh studies shown it does not work". What? lol Than where are the laws preventing relocation programs? They have relocated bison out west in some cases. Curiosity and natural fear that fluctuate and vary with each animal, so let's not pin it all on Bob from Ohio feeding a beer. Some have fed a bear in fear to get it to focus on the food instead of them as food, as silly as that sounds. What would you do if you had a bit of food in your hand and a bear would not leave. Would you toss it to the bear to distract or would you run the risk of an attack by not? Either way, according to the park, the bear is going to get euthanized anyway in scenario in whatever outcome you decide.

What microphone do you use?

Are you in in Gatlinburg and pigeon forge? We're down here too!!😊

On June 15th this year while packing to leave Gatlinburg I had a bear knock me down and grab my cooler out of the trunk. It later came back and my wife got in the car and blew the horn. STOP FEEDING THE BEARS. This one had a cub.

What do they do with the Hide?

In pigeon forge right now! Hopefully no bears will attack us or something 😖😖

This ain’t going to end well. Oh by the way Uncle Eddy called. He said that he ain’t afraid of any bears. Expect a visit 😂

People getting to close to bears and nature. Leave them alone. Stop taking away their space. They have been here for a long time.

Problem is, people are stupid. Saw a guy at Cades Cove who was trying to feed a bear. Thankfully it didn’t get close enough for him to feed him

bears would much rather get a free handouts, then hunt there own food.

Thank you for posting this, just like you showed a bear in your driveway. Wild animals can be anywhere. They’re more than likely looking for food. Keep your distance and don’t feed them.

The smokies is the Bears Habatat and I know alot of people Loves Dolly but Dolly has driven the Bears out into the city of Gatlinburg in other counties all they think about is money making for tourists so we get what we get now the Bears have Lost their Habatat mainly Because of Dolly have no used for people running wildlife out of the mountains thanks for sharing your videos Becarefull your self

How is the weather there in Gailtlanburg and Piegon Forge

Yeah, they say the same thing about sharks. You go to Gulf Shores watch the water.

I’m more concerned with TWRA who wants to kill everything in site than I am bear.

Well, bears aren't as a big issue here in Florida. Instead it's just snakes, roaches and occasionally hurricanes!

Thank you for showing these videos. It is sad that they are used to humans and seem to be unafraid. They had definitely been fed at some point. It is sad though that TWRA couldn't take them somewhere instead of killing them. They should have been put in a zoo or somewhere like that IMO. Even if they were at the Three Bears Gift Shop would have been fine with me instead of killing those teenagers. 😢😢 It breaks my heart that everyone wants to see a bear when they come visit us but don't want to follow the rules and they get too close and even feed them. It's a mixed bag of feelings for me.

I've lived here mostly all of my 50 plus years and we are seeing more encounters with black bear. The only common factor here is more people, more construction into their habitats. Solution. Bear patrol monitoring in Gatlinburg and surrounding camping areas. There was less bear human contact when there was almost no enforcement in reducing bear feeding, especially back in the 70's and 80's and 90's. Before the bear proof garbage cans as well. This is a unique place as it's the busiest national park in the US and Gatlinburg is ground zero for that. If we euthanize all these bears and there will be more of them, we are going to attract the wrong publicity and attention to the national park here. Environmentalists, activists as well as others groups. Even a bear who has been fed, isn't going to forget how to hunt and away from people. It's a very slippery slope and we are at a crossroad on how we deal with it. Great video and subbed.

And people should definitely stalk bears and approach them for KZfaq like GH did.

,these are wild animals, enough said. One would think, now I understand why government, celebrity, corporate, & more get away with, EVIL. #BAM

Why wouldn’t someone warn that woman with the pot, merica gotta love it 🤦‍♂️

they just need some feeders in the mountains to keep them up to much food smell around need to keep them up

I am not sad for the people at all. People feeding bears have caused this. Bears only act like this when humans have fed the bears and then they become unafraid of humans. I feel bad for the bears because they only want to eat. We humans are guests in the bears home. Please DONT FEED THE BEARS, humans are causing the bears to be euthanized. Thank You for creating this informational video. Bears aren’t the problem, the humans are.

Very well said. Enjoy the bears, just don't feed them. Unless you have an uncle Eddie, then by all means feed them uncle Eddie 🤪

u r the uninvited visitor