Okay so this is just a suggestion based on the fact that I died today by logging in and spawning basically right on top of a bear. By the time the loading screen vanished and the graphics appeared I was KO'd and 2 seconds later I was inevitably murdered.
If bears will agro you and ultimately murder you now, (assuming you don't have the combat skills to fend one off, you are not caught by surprise, you don't spawn on top of one or you don't experience any lag while near one), I suggest making them a lot more scarce or making it so they can't spawn in a much larger radius around claims, otherwise I can see this happening more often. Another idea is only allowing bears to murder when the combat is initiated by a player. It's kind of lame when a bit of lag or a slow loading screen can end up setting your efforts back a few weeks because a massive overpowered murdering machine agro'd and hit you during a lagspike or a load.