Jack Hanna Grizzly Bear - Pepper Spray

By: Michael Stevens
Staff Writer
Published: Jul 28, 2010

The story of Jack Hanna and the Grizzly Bear does make you want to carry pepper spray.

Jack Hanna grizzly bear gets attacked with pepper spray. The grizzly bear approached Jack Hanna and that's when he blasted the animal with pepper spray. Jack Hanna knows a lot about a grizzly bear from years of experience.

"My heart was pounding Saturday night, I'll tell you that," Jack stated. The director of Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was at Montana's Glacier National Park hiking with his wife when a momma bear and her two large yearkings started approaching. How ironic, he is usually the one teaching other to stay calm.

"Here comes a mama and yearlings, not cubs. Yearlings are about 100 to 150 pounds. You cannot run from these animals. They run a football field in six seconds," Jack stated. "I unloaded the first blast and the wind blew the d**n pepper spray right away. He's still coming, so I blast him again about 15 feet, and he's still coming, 'roar', and he goes like that about 10 feet right in front of me. I had the pepper spray right in his face. I mean, I could just [have said] this is it for me. I just go 'pssssh' and unload the whole thing in his face," Jack exclaimed.

If going on a hike, the zoo keeper recommends having a large spray can with you. "What you don't want to do is run. You put your arms in front of your face and protect your face. They'll bat around you and bite you, and then they're going to leave you alone. They're telling you to stay away. They're not trying to eat you," Jack Hanna said.