Overview

• A grizzly bear briefly charged mascot Buoy and forward John Hayden during a late-June fly-fishing shoot in Katmai National Park, footage of which was posted July 31 and has since gone viral.
• The Seattle Kraken confirmed no people or animals were harmed and credited veteran guides for adhering to Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee safety measures.
• PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk sent CEO Tod Leiweke a letter arguing that recreational fishing contradicts the mascot’s message of wildlife respect and inflicts prolonged suffering on fish.
• Social media users have responded with both humor and concern, sharing memes and questioning the wisdom of staging promotional shoots in active bear habitat.
• The annual trip, run with the Bristol Bay Native Corporation to promote youth hockey development, has reignited debate over risk management in wilderness marketing.