First, the main point: the Caucasus Nature Reserve has not a single recorded case of a bear attacking a human. The bear by the Bzerpinsky cornice is no horror-film menace but the master of these parts, one that as a rule keeps clear of people of its own accord. Even so, it is a large wild animal, and you need to behave correctly around it.
The reserve is home to 300–400 brown bears — one of the largest populations in the Caucasus. This is the Caucasian subspecies (Ursus arctos meridionalis), with highly variable size and colouring: an adult usually weighs 150–300 kg, large males up to 400. The cornice lies within their range, and meeting a bear here is entirely possible.
When the bear is active
The bear wakes early: most leave their dens on 5–10 March, while females with newborn cubs come out later, in April. After emerging, some of the animals climb into the high country, where their rut takes place in May and June. They den up again in December, in large numbers by the middle of the month.
The season most noticeable to a hiker is autumn: the bear is fattening up before hibernation and feeds hard. In summer its staple is the greenery and grasses of the meadows; in autumn, berries (bilberry, lingonberry) in the high country, and lower down, beechnuts, acorns and chestnuts.
Cubs are born in winter, right inside the den, and weigh only about half a kilogram at birth — less than a house cat. A female has a litter only once every two years, so every cub counts for the population.
Why encounters have grown more frequent
In recent years bears have come out to people more and more often. The cause is almost always the same — available food. The resorts and villages of Krasnaya Polyana sit right up against the reserve, often directly on old animal trails. Bears grow used to easy pickings: there are known cases of a female with cubs feeding at a village rubbish dump, and individual animals are seen beneath the cable cars — sitting and watching the people.
The conclusion is simple and important: a fed bear is a dangerous bear. An animal that has linked humans with food loses its caution and may come to a campsite. So everything that depends on the hiker comes down to one thing — leave nothing edible behind.
"In defending a cub, a mother bear will not stop to warn you. Leave immediately, do not approach and do not take photographs."— Caucasus Nature Biosphere Reserve
How to avoid an encounter
The best bear encounter is the one that never happens, because the animal heard you in advance and moved off. So: make noise on the trail — talk at full voice, whistle, tap the bushes with a stick. Don't walk alone: a group of people deters the animal more reliably. Keep to open ground, where a bear is visible from far off, and don't leave the route.
And the key thing at camp: don't leave food or rubbish. Food goes into a sealed container; waste comes back down with you. It is precisely the scraps around tents that turn a wild bear into a "beggar", and then into a problem.
Quick quiz: a bear on the trail
If the bear is right there after all
The cardinal rule: never run. A bear reaches up to 60 km/h, escape is impossible, and fleeing triggers the animal's chase instinct. Keep your distance — a comfortable one for the animal is about 100 metres. Back away slowly the way you came, without turning your back on the bear and without looking it in the eye.
Show that you are a human, not prey: "make yourself bigger" — stand tall, lift your backpack above your head — and speak in a calm, confident voice. If the animal comes closer, a sharp noise helps: banging a mug against a pot, rustling a bag, a signal flare. You must not throw stones or sticks at the bear, or turn your back on it when it is at its food.
If you are facing a female with cubs, this is the most dangerous encounter of all. Don't coo over them, don't approach, don't reach for your phone. Slowly and silently open up the distance and leave. A cub that a human has approached can cost both you and it your lives.
It sounds grave — but recall how we began: there have been no attacks in the reserve. These rules exist precisely so that it stays that way. More on the other risks of the route is in the article "Trail hazards", and on the bear as part of the ecosystem, in the wildlife overview.
