Why black bears love dumpster diving

A black bear gave a West Virginia school principal a major scare this week when it emerged from a dumpster outside his elementary school.

In a surveillance footage video that has gone viral, Zela Elementary School principal James Marsh was unlocking the lid of the dumpster when a large bear pushed it open, letting out a large roar and leading both Mr Marsh and the furry creature to panic and sprint away.

"That was 7:15 a.m. If you are not already awake, that will wake you up," Mr Marsh told the Associated Press.

Wildlife experts told the BBC that as frightening as the incident was, a dumpster is not an unlikely spot to encounter a bear - nor is Mr Marsh the only person to come across one there.

"It's very common. As the human population is growing, we are seeing more and more people living in bear habitat," said Kim Titchener, the founder of Bear Safety and More in Alberta, Canada. "So unfortunately, there are more conflicts."

North America is home to over 700,000 black bears, which live in many US states and provinces in Canada. Though black bears are rarely aggressive, they are more likely than the two other types of North American bears - grizzly and polar - to come into contact with humans.

Certain places like Mr Marsh's home state of West Virginia, as well as New Jersey and Tennessee, may be more ripe for bear encounters as they have growing populations of the mammals, said David Drake, a professor and extension wildlife specialist at the University of Wisconsin.

And dumpsters, especially those containing food, are an ideal spot for the creatures, who would rather eat humans' leftover lunch than dandelions and berries, said Ms Titchener.

But many areas - including Mr Marsh's school - do not have bear-resistant dumpsters, she said. She noted that although the green dumpster in the surveillance video had a lock on it, the bin had plastic toppers - no match for a bears' strong claws.

Bear-resistant garbage bins are made out of metal and have clips to keep doors securely closed. They are common on camp grounds and in parks where bears are more likely to roam.

Those who have doubts about whether their dumpster could endure the wrath of a bear can even send them to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in Montana. There, employees load the containers up with food and test their strength by allowing live grizzly bears to try to rip into them.

Some experts have even advised those living in areas with a lot of bears to padlock their fridges, as the creatures have been known to break into homes for food.

Ultimately, having safer storage containers helps protect the bears themselves, as many are killed in these types of encounters, Ms Titchener said.

Bears that have become accustomed to finding food near humans will continue to come into close encounters with people - until they are eventually euthanised or removed from their habitat.

"A fed bear is a dead bear" is a common hiking expression in the US.

But the incidents can also prove dangerous for humans. If one does come across a bear at a garbage bin, experts advise them not to follow in Mr Marsh's footsteps.

"There's never ever a situation with a carnivore where you should run," said Ms Titchener, since they may mistake you for prey and give chase.

Instead, experts said people should back away very slowly, give the bear space, talk calmly and make themselves look big.

Having bear spray - a non-lethal spray made of red pepper oil and other ingredients to deter bears - can also help tremendously, as not every bear will run away like the one in Mr Marsh's school dumpster.

"He got lucky," said Ms Titchener. "Kids are scared of principals and I guess bears are too."