….GATLINBURG — Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers say they’re certain they’ve killed the black bear that repeatedly mauled an 8-year-old boy Monday evening near a popular motor trail on the outskirts of town….

This was the opening paragraph for the lead story of a black bear attack here in the Smoky Mountain Park. The good news is that both the boy and his father will leave the park with only scars and a story to tell for life, the bad news is that a black bear will leave the park forever, and his life ends with the story.

It is not known why the bear attacked the boy, but I have a theory based on what I see everytime I am in the Smokies. Please note, I am by no means a bear expert, but I would like to think I am smarter than the average bear. (oh that was bad)

Black bears are one main reason to come to the Smokies, and Roaring Fork Nature trail (where the attack occured) and Cades Cove (where I am 2-3 times a week) are the best two places to view the bears in their natural habitats. Now enter the tourist. They travel from all four corners of the world to see a bear, and when they do, they MUST get a photo. Unfortunately, they leave common sense in the car, and scramble into the woods to get close enough to use their camera phones or point and shoots to capture the trophy. They forget the bear is wild. Baam, now we have a bear jam…(cars parked all over the road, people flocking to the bear from all directions) and the bear is freaking out. He usually runs away…..but not always.

If a bear stands up, he is ‘sizing’ you to determine if he wants to attack you or not. Most times he will turn and run. But, some tourists still follow the bear (chasing) deeper into the woods, and the bear keeps running. Now the bear is more scared and becomes confused, because he is being chased out of his comfort zone. He is also becoming upset and desprate. Then he enters another area where people are, but THESE people do not know what just happen, and deju vu all over again…

This time the bear stands up to size someone, and the first person he encounters is a small boy. He determines the boy is smaller, and he attacks…

This is just my theory of a possible reason the bear attacked.

….Black bear attacks are rare, according to the North American Bear Center. Between 1900 and 2007, only 60 people were killed in black bear attacks across North America, and 45 of those deaths took place in Alaska or Canada, where there is usually little contact between the animals and people….