Pregnant Woman Chased by Bear
Whenever I read a news item like this where a pregnant woman has been chased by a bear and then knocked down by a speeding car, I feel sad. Sad because whatever may be the outcome for the human, it most certainly is curtains for the animal. In this case the animal was a four-foot female black bear. She paid the ultimate price for wittingly or unwittingly coming in contact with humans.
What happened was that six-months pregnant Ashley Swendsen from Colorado Springs decided to take a walk during lunch-hour. She ran into a bear on a hiking trail between the Vincent Drive Bridge and Interstate 25. According to Swendsen the bear was just two feet away when she saw it (and the bear didn’t make a grab for her). The bear started to chase her only when she started to run away from it after walking away for a few steps. In the process, she got knocked down by an oncoming vehicle and the driver, a woman incidentally, did not bother to stop and check.
An acquaintance called the police, the police called the wildlife department and the wildlife department euthanized the bear. Come to think of it, the lady was in greater danger from speeding vehicles than she was from the bear. As things have turned out, Swendsen and the child she’s carrying are fine. To honor the bear, she has decided to keep the baby’s middle name “Bear” irrespective of whether it is a boy or a girl.
Unbelievable. You’re more worried about the bear that caused the incident in the first place than the woman or her baby. Disgusting.
Dispicable – you should retire as a journalist and go live in the woods with your animal relatives. SICKO
I haven’t said am more concerned about the bear; just sad that it had to pay with its life. The animal could have been relocated; besides this is the time of the year when bears come out of hibernation and it is for humans to ensure that they either isolate the animals’ range or stay away from their haunts. The lady, a local, should have known better and chosen a safer route for her walk.
The earth is theirs as much as it is ours. Besides a bear lost brings a species closer to extinction, the state of affairs is that dismal.
If that were my pregnant daughter out there being chased by a bear, I wouldn’t care how they got the bear away from her. It is a shame that this kind of dangerous wildlife tends to come in contact with humans and that most times there is no choice but to euthanize them, but that is just the way it is and the way it will remain. As far as a safe route to walk, there is no guarantee of any route being safe. A mountain lion recently ran up in a family’s backyard in California where their child was playing and attacked a family pet. The child got lucky and was unharmed, but if that thing ran into my yard with my child there I would have shot it. Sorry. I hate people cruel to animals, like Sarah Palin is especially disgusting in my opinion, but when humans are threatened its just better not to try and second guess what the wild animal will do. If you want to save animals, I suggest you find a Stop Sarah Palin site where people are against unnecessary cruelty to animals, like running wolves out into the open chasing them with helicopters so they have nowhere to hide and shooting them for the hell of it. Then hanging their dead carcuss across the leg of the helicopter and having photos made with her “KILL”. I understand your disdain for situations like this with the pregnant woman, but truly there was no way to avoid it since the woman was there…just join me trying to stop unimaginably cruel people like Sarah.
shae you are just as bad as sarah
and way too ignorant and arrogant
you are disgusting
for one more and more people are living further out of original city limits, in the foothills, in mountain ranges and in the woods and closer to the woods. that is natural wildlife habitat. if you cant live with the animals then you shouldnt be living there. building new subdivisions in canyons and close to creeks and people hiking through the woods, animals are there.
I agree; there’s no good ending in a story like this. Humans are here and we need to live somewhere, yet unfortunately that means encroaching on animals who cannot understand when we mean no harm. I’m glad that Ashley is okay, and she certainly has a right to enjoy nature, but the truth is the bear didn’t hurt her. I know this sounds awful, but I tend to suspect if the bear had truly been acting aggressively, a pregnant woman could not have out run it so easily; I read that a black bear can sprint up to 35 mph. I don’t know a great deal about black bears, but it’s my understanding that they often respond by an individual running by giving chase much like domestic dogs. The interviews seem to suggest she started running and the bear began to chase her. I know if I came face to face with a bear I probably would freak out a little, but hopefully everyone involved can take a moment to brush up on their bear sense, especially Ashley before her child arrives. Please don’t read this as me trying to “blame” anyone, I just think it’s unfortunate when animal and human interactions end in suffering for both parties. Ashley didn’t seem thrilled in the video I watched by the experience or the fact that the bear would be put down.
The sad fact as I understand it is that black bears don’t do well with relocation; they often work their way back or feud with territorial bears elsewhere. As you point out, once the bear is singled out euthanasia is often the only choice officials feel they can safely make. Feeling bad for the animal does not diminish concern for the human, in my opinion.
some compassion for the bear please
This brings to mind an article about the “rewilding” of certain areas in Europe. I’m not a big animal lover, or eco this that or the other, but when i hear about these sorts of things its sad. Whatever the out come if the woman was killed by the bear or vice versa. They are animals and we are potentially food. They go where they go and sometimes people go where they shouldnt. The world is not going to be safe 100%, and this is just a reminder of that.
I lived in Utah growing up and bobcats and mountain lions were part of where I grew up. When one was spotted officials didn’t kill it they sent out notices that one was in the area and the parents got their kids and pets inside.
If this bear was injured and not recoverable I can see the actions these people took as right. And even if black bears don’t do well after be relocated that’s just mother nature. Adapt or perish.
I live not even a block from where it happened and her own stupidity got her hit. I’m sure the media won’t come out with this but she was lying and the bear didn’t chase her.
Don’t bother backpedaling, Piyush.
There are billions of us humans and not that many bears. Are they going to be “forced to euthanize” the old white woman who hit the woman with a car?
No, they killed the BLACK bear because they are racists and human supremacists.