Please Don't Feed, Approach, or Pet Bears: A Lesson for Uninformed Tourists in Gatlinburg

Recently, a woman was photographed and witnessed holding out her hand and actually petting a bear that was wondering around the Quality Inn Creekside motel in Gatlinburg, a place we are very familiar with. Sadly, this may result in the bear being put down, as is the case when a bear gets too close to humans or is being fed by said human.

The hotel owner was interviewed by a Knoxville news station saying he will kick out guests who get too friendly with bears. He also says it is quite often that bears roam the property, even stating that he sees the same four or five quite frequently. When the news story came out, he was trying to identify the woman, seen from above in the picture taken by the witness.

I feel this is the right way to send a message. Too many times people come to this beautiful area to visit and succumb to ignorance when it comes to bear safety. Unfortunately, some are smart enough to know better and don’t care. This is infuriating to me and most of you as well. There will always be a few bad apple in the bunch (millions) who visit Gatlinburg every year. All we can do is keep driving the point home, even if it seems all for nothing.

Photo credited to Misty Chrismon.