These bears are most often, large hungry males that stalk their human prey. These attacks are unprovoked and happen without warning. Attacks by predatory bears are so highly publicized that it is difficult to put them in perspective. You are 160,000 times more likely to be killed in an auto accident than to be killed by a black bear. The more than500,000 black bears in North America account for about one human death every three years.
Bears have a long history as part of human mythology and generate myths that are hard to dispel.
The idea that black bears will kill to defend their cubs is one of these myths. Black bears are protective of their cubs and will try determinedly to dissuade any interloper that comes between her and her cubs, yet no human fatality has ever been documented from this type of encounter. In fact, researchers and biologists often round-up cubs to weigh, measure and tag them with the mother looking on. Of course, these wildlife professionals have support to keep the mom at bay. Alone in the woods, there is no reason to tempt fate.