Truly horrible bear advice

From BearWiki

Claim: Bear's advice on dealing with bears is completely wrong.

Bear has admitted in the pilot episode the he "doesn't know much about bears." He is correct - he does not know much about bears.

He cooks and eats a meal in his camp. This is a major no-no in bear country. Cook and eat at least a few hundred yards from your campsite. Do not sleep in the clothes you cook or eat in. Keep all "smellables" out of your camp, particularly away from your tent or sleeping bag. The vast majority of bear encounters are quite avoidable.[1]

At night, he thinks a bear may be outside his shelter, and says:

"What I do know is that that if a bear is in your camp, you must abandon it."

Abandon his camp he does, in the middle of the night. Abandoning your shelter if a bear might be there only prompts an encounter with the bear. If you run from a bear, it will catch you - you will not outrun it. You can turn a curious encounter into a predatory encounter.

It is exceedingly rare for a black or brown bear to stalk a human. As a statistical study on bear attacks notes, "Don't lose sight of the fact, however, that we are focusing on the 'head of a pin' so to speak. Bear attacks are very, very rare phenonmen in Alaska, bearing testimony to the great pains these animals take to avoid humans. Sometimes, however, people leave them few choices and the unfortunate occurs"[2]. Bear sees what he thinks is a brown (grizzly) bear print and decides that not only is the bear following him, it's "playing with" him. He decides he must break his scent trail to keep the bear from tracking and attacking him. He does this by jumping off a 70ft cliff into water of unknown depth. You're more likely to be abducted by aliens than in need of jumping off a cliff to avoid a bear, and jumping off a cliff is just suicidally bad advice. Not to mention, water does not break a scent trail.[3] (this myth was also explored on Mythbusters, another Discovery show)

All his recommendations play to the audiences fear, and his stunts are needlessly dramatic. The reality is that the majority of bear charges are bluff charges, and the best response is to hold your ground and slowly walk away. Even if it does attack, covering vital parts and playing dead is the best response. Only if a grizzly persists should you fight back (pepper spray will give you an edge if available). Black bears should always be fought if the charge isn't a bluff, as they're easier to scare off. Never run; black, brown, and polar bears are all faster than humans[4]

At least his advice on making noise was proper.

For those interested in further reading on actual advice by actual bear researchers:

Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance [5]

Backcountry Bear Basics: The Definitive Guide to Avoiding Unpleasant Encounters [6]

There are others if you're just looking for drama or a scary bear attack story.

Update: It gets even better. It turns out that the crew hired man in a bear suit because they couldn't find a tame bear for the shoot.