403 - Is Bear Spray Better than Guns vs Aggressive Bears? Here's What the Data from 352 Bear Encounters Says...

The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

In this episode I put on my adventurer hat and use my biology background to look at four studies and 352 aggressive bear encounters in Alaska to see whether bear spray or firearms was more effective at deterring aggressive black, grizzly and polar bear behaviour. The results may surprise you, but data doesn't care about your feelings!

TIMESTAMPS

01:28 - Introduction to bears spray vs guns

04:08 - Analysis of the first report, Bear Spray vs Bullets, Which Offers Better Protection, by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

04:30 - Analysis of second report, Bear Spray or Bullets, by Lynn Dickerson

08:57 - Analysis of third report, Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska, by Smith et al.

16:48 Analysis of fourth report, Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska, by Smith et al.

23:27 Summary and personal opinions

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Thanks so much,

Stephan Kesting