[Newsweek] A dog has been praised for her remarkable display of loyalty and courage when she took on two charging bears to protect her canine companion.The pit bull mix Marion was rushed to the vets after she came up against two wild bears while spending time in the backyard.
Marion was playing with her "boyfriend" Bruno, a tiny chiweenie belonging to a friend of her owner. Bruno began barking as two bears approaching the property, and when one of the bears lunged toward him, Marion didn't hesitate.
"Marion immediately ran to defend him, squaring up with two bears. One of the bears attacked her, pinning her on the ground and biting her on her neck and face," Claire Samford, Referral Coordinator at the Emergency Vet Clinic of Niceville and Destin told Newsweek. "Miraculously, she escaped and was brought to our clinic for emergency care."
Marion was rushed to the vets where she received emergency care for her injuries. A video shared by the clinic on TikTok showed her standing, with two bandaged legs and a caption that read: "Our Maryann is 'Marion' who didn't hesitate to take on not one, but two bears to save her boyfriend."
The only bear species in Florida is the black bear, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimate there are around 4,000 bears in the state.
There is evidence that the prevalence of bears in Florida has increased in recent years. According to data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) the total number of bear-related calls in Florida has significantly increased over the 20-year span, from 1,919 calls in 2005 to 7,311 calls in 2024—a nearly 4-fold increase.
In 2024, non-core complaints (calls about bear interactions that could be positive or negative) reached their highest ever at 65 percent, suggesting that more bears are being seen in communities, though not necessarily causing harm, while core complaints (where conflicts occur) made up 35 percent of calls.
Marion's owner later shared an update on her condition: "Marion's wounds are already closed and healing nicely. She was back to her normal self the very next day as if nothing happened. She's so back to normal that I'm worried that she would go after the bear again if she saw one, especially if she thinks she needs to protect us.
"She has no fear other than taking a bath, so I'm on high alert. She was homeless her first year of life before we adopted her, so I think she has a lot of toughness in her from surviving on the streets alone."