Ep. 07 - When Bears Attack!
- Alex Weston
- Jan 12
- 3 min read
According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, there have been zero recorded fatal bear attacks in Minnesota. However, that’s not technically true.
Join us for the harrowing tale of the fatal bear attack THEY don’t want you to know about, which occurred in Mankato in 1934.
(Content Warning: animal death, fatal bear attack)
Images
Here is a postcard showing the SIbley Park Zoo in the early 1930s. One of these cages presumably holds a couple of bears with sinister swinish eyes:
Before Clarence Staley's untimely demise, Sibley Park Zoo was best known for "Mutt and Jeff," a lion and a dog who were raised together at the zoo and were best buds. They pair were named for a popular comic strip at the time. Mutt, the lion, was born at the zoo in 1932. (Yes, we are also wondering why the lion and not the dog was named "Mutt."). The two were inseparable, and were featured in "Ripley's: Believe it or Not" syndicated newspaper srtip. In 1942, Mutt had to be euthanized because of a painful hernia.
Another notable attraction at the Sibley Park Zoo was a crow that Clarence Staley had trained to say "hello" and a few other words. This "talking" crow was much mourned when it died in 1934. Clarence Staley had the bird stuffed and put on display.
On the subject of how bears were viewed, here’s a portion of one of the articles we read in this episode, “Bruin, Clown of the Animal Kingdom,” The Minneapolis Journal, May 20, 1934, Page 53.
Here is a early 20th century photo of a zookeeper from Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, showing just how chummy and safe zookeepers of this era felt around black bears:
A year after Clarence Staley’s death, he was memorialized with a flagpole in Sibley Park:
Sources:
French, Alice. “Japan’s bear-related casualties hit record on escalating attacks,” The Japan Times, December 6th, 2025.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, “What to do if you encounter a black bear.”
Smith, David, C. “Minnehaha Park Zoo,” Minneapolis Park History. Posted December 4th, 2022.
Newspaper Articles (in chronological order):
“Animals Help Make Minnehaha Park a Pleasure Ground,” Minneapolis Daily Times, Jun 19, 1904, Page 27.
“A Real Live Cub Bear,” The Albert Lea Tribune, January 10, 1910, Page 5.
“An Amiable Brute,” Brainerd Dispatch, Jun 12, 1915, Page 2.
“Minnesota Black Bear,” Star Tribune, November 7, 1932, Page 14.
“Bruin, Clown of the Animal Kingdom,” The Minneapolis Journal, May 20, 1934, Page 53.
“Animal Trainer Mauled to Death by Mad Bear,” Brainerd Dispatch, November 12, 1934, page 3
“More About Park Tragedy Taking Place in Mankato,” The Albert Lea Tribune, November 14, 1934, Page 7.
“Zoo Caretakers Not Permitted to Enter Cages,” Post Bulletin (Rochester, MN), November 14th, 1934 page 5.
“Mankato May Eliminate Zoo at Sibley Park,” The Albert Lea Tribune, November 15, 1934, Page 4.
“Trainer Killed, May Close Zoo at Sibley Park,” The Ellendale Eagle, November 21, 1934, Page 2.
“Flagpole Will Honor Man Killed By Bear,” The Minneapolis Journal, September 13th, 1935, page 24.
Episode Credits:
Minnesota Unknown is produced, hosted, written, and researched by Alex Weston, Hannah Norton, and Josie Bergmann. This episode was edited by Alex Weston. This episode is copyright 2026 by Minnesota Unknown, LLC. All rights reserved.
Our theme song is by Union Shakedown. Additional music used in this episode is:
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys,” by Kevin MacLeod. (Free Music Archive) Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.
“Scary Forest,” by Serge Quadrado. (Free Music Archive) Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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