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Robert Biggs' Account Of Bear Saving Him From Mountain Lion Likely A Hoax, Wildlife Officials Say

Bearlion

First Posted: 04/04/12 11:43 AM ET Updated: 04/05/12 12:02 PM ET

California wildlife officials produced some scathing lab results while investigating a man's incredible story that a black bear saved him from a mountain lion late last month.

In Robert Biggs' nerve-racking account, a momma black bear ripped the gigantic cat off his back in an attempt to save his life during the scary day-hike incident.

But officials at the state's Department of Fish and Game weren't convinced and launched a probe, largely because Biggs broke free from the attack with little more than a cat scratch.

What do you think? Take the poll below!

"Mountain lions don't scratch," Department Communications Manager Kirsten Macintyre told The Huffington Post. "There's a very distinct pattern of injuries when a mountain lion attacks a person or a deer. They don't just run away -- even if a bear comes along."

Knowing this, a warden retrieved 69-year-old Biggs' backpack, which the cat had reportedly latched onto when it was trying to kill the man. Macintyre said that DNA testing turned up only a few results corroborating Biggs' story: a bit of Bigg's blood and a half-inch tear.

No saliva, no bear hair, no mountain lion hair.

"We do not believe there was a mountain lion," Macintyre said.

On the phone from his home in Paradise, Calif., on Tuesday, Biggs wasn't about to make any retractions.

"It's 100-percent true -- I swear to God," he told The Huffington Post. "Of course only my blood was on the backpack. It was everywhere! More fantastic things than this have happened before."

He chalked up the cleanliness of the pack to the fact that he'd left it in the rain before wildlife officials showed up days later.


Quick Poll

Do you believe that a black bear saved Robert Biggs from a mountain lion?

VOTE

Credit: Trevor Warner, Paradise Post
 
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08:57 AM on 04/11/2012
why can't he have this story whether it is true or false. His recollection of the events do not effect anybody. Maybe it happened and maybe he is a good storyteller. Either way, who cares if it is real - just enjoy his story. My god this country needs to lighten up. People believe "reality television" but not some guy who is making nothing for telling his story. People suck.
11:58 PM on 04/10/2012
Well I was once attacked by a Mountain Tabby Cat and a Wild Mountain Mongrel came along and saved me from this feline felon. I had spent the day trout fishing and I had 3 nice trout for the evenings dinner when out of the blue this yellow and white stripped MadCat pounced on my fish...ahhh I meant ..umm ME ...Yeah and this wild animal had the drop on me when low and behold this Chocolate Lab named Maxi, I had never seen before, jumped out of my pick-up truck and chased that marauding MadCat up a tree allowing me to make my escape. I will never forget that day and like this fellar here, when I contacted the WA State Dept of Wildlife they just laughed at my brush with a missed meal and scratches. But hey, me and Maxi knows it's what happened.......right Maxi...... Ruff! RUFF! ...that means yep.
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Budd B
12:57 PM on 04/12/2012
I loved your story. I hope you get over the trauma. May your wounds heal soon. ROTFLMAO.
10:58 PM on 04/10/2012
Bears, are called wild because that's what they are; you never know what they may do, never trust a wild creature, you don't know when they could turn on you!
10:41 PM on 04/10/2012
My son-in law would say this can't be true, bears are very mean!
12:04 AM on 04/11/2012
specially if ya try ta steal their Honey Pot and mess with Eyeour or Kanga and Little Roo, but Tigger can take care of his seff cuz he's a Tigger
01:56 PM on 04/10/2012
It's absolutely believable. A bear once saved me from eating a box of donuts that I'd left in the bed of my truck while we were off hiking in Yellowstone. They were probably poisonous. Bears are awesome.
09:55 AM on 04/10/2012
I don't know. I wasn't there. It COULD have happened. It might NOT have happened. But my opinion doesn't matter one way or the other, now does it? He told his story. Believe it, don't believe it, move on. True or not, telling the story isn't against the law. Nothing that was related in the story indicates that anything illegal occurred. A government agency should not be spending tax dollars to "probe" the story and it should be nothing more than entertainment for anyone else. (In my opinion, which once again is irrelevant).
10:49 PM on 04/09/2012
The guy did nothing wrong . . . So why is the wildlife service wasting time and resources trying to prove him a liar?

Sounds like a police state out there in California.
03:24 PM on 04/09/2012
I think Tim Tebow saved him.
11:10 PM on 04/09/2012
From a Bearcat.
07:50 PM on 04/08/2012
in my experience the more fantastic the story the more likely it's true. Don't try to thank the bear, she didn't save you because she likes you. You are still on the menu.
11:29 PM on 04/06/2012
If a big cat shows aggression near a sow bear, with cubs, she may not tolerate that, reguardless of the target. Cougars and boar bears are the no.1 killers of bear cubs in Calif.
03:21 PM on 04/06/2012
My only comment at this point is I cannot believe the huffington post has any right to be questioning if someone is lying or not. They put out so many lies, how could they know the difference?
11:45 PM on 04/06/2012
The sow was going after a natural predator of her young, this guy was very lucky. Next week she will have a large S whitepatch on her chest. Don't mess with her babies, or anything else within about 50 yrds.
11:06 AM on 04/06/2012
The poll needs a fourth option:
"I believe that HE believes a bear saved him from a mountain lion!"

:~)
12:06 AM on 04/11/2012
Excellent point ;-)
10:35 AM on 04/06/2012
Sounded good but those few scratches on his arm most likely came from branches that scratched him. For such a fight to occur he would have far more injuries than those!!
06:13 PM on 04/05/2012
If it is on AOL , it has a high chance of being phony.
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IraqOut
03:25 PM on 04/05/2012
What? You just figured that out?