This week’s “Predator Watch” features a rundown of bear encounters — some of them unfortunately fatal, including the first story out of Canada, which has drawn the most headlines.
The 27-year-old man who was killed by a black bear on May 8 at a uranium mining site in northern Saskatchewan has been identified as Hrishikesh Koloth from Kerala, India. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports that Koloth trained in mixed martial arts for more than a decade and dreamed of fighting professionally in the UFC. He had moved to Canada from India three years ago and lived with his older brother, who said Koloth was planning on starting a job as a boxing coach in Vancouver in June.
According to CBC, Koloth was "working on contract as a technician at the Zoo Bay property operated by Vancouver-based UraniumX Discovery Corp" when he was killed. A civilian at the scene shot and killed the bear afterward. The attack, the fourth fatal bear incident in Saskatchewan's recorded history, occurred in a remote area, as did the recent attack on two U.S. soldiers I wrote about in "Predator Watch: Two U.S. Soldiers Injured in Bear Attack During Training in Alaska."
Just one day after Koloth was killed, on May 9, search and rescue crews found the body of a 33-year-old hiker who went missing in Glacier National Park. Authorities believe Anthony Pollio, 33, of Davie, Fla., was the first person killed in a bear attack at the park since 1998. USA Today provided details on the previous fatal attack:
Fatal bear encounters are uncommon at Glacier National Park, located near the Canada–United States border in northwestern Montana. The park service said the last deadly bear attack at the park occurred in 1998 in the Two Medicine region.
On May 17, 1998, a solo hiker — Craig Dahl — was attacked on the Scenic Point Trail in the Two Medicine Valley, park service records show. Wildlife authorities killed a female bear and two cubs in response to Dahl's death.
Since the park was established, there have been 10 confirmed grizzly bear-related fatalities, from 1967 to 1998, according to park service records.
The last time a bear injured a human at Glacier National Park was in August 2025, the park service said. A 34-year-old woman was injured by a "brown-colored bear" while backcountry hiking with another person near Lake Janet, the agency said in a news release at the time.
Two other hikers in Glacier National Park had a scary encounter with grizzly bears this month, though fortunately, they lived to tell about it. They were warned by other passing hikers of bears just off the trail they were on, but they decided to continue on. The couple tells what happened next to Good Morning America. Watch their harrowing story — the woman actually said, “We’re gonna die; we’re actually gonna die” — until the end to find out which other animal they had to deter after the bear threat passed, thanks to bear spray.
The final story this week, sent to me by PJ Media Managing Editor Chris Queen, reminds us you don't have to be hiking in "bear country" to have a close encounter; you might run in to one in a major metropolitan city.
WSB Radio reports that police this week warned residents in Alpharetta, Ga., to be on alert after recent bear sightings, including reports of a bear meandering around an elementary school and one seen at the local shopping district. Meanwhile, here's video of a bear running through an apartment complex in neighboring Cobb County:
Exit question: The couple in Montana chose to keep hiking after they were warned about bears nearby. In my first "Predator Watch" column, I wrote about a similar warning I received while hiking with my family in California. We immediately turned around and went home. Would any readers have not done that and kept hiking? Share in the comments.
