Dot is Killed – UPDATE September 13, 2013

Dot – March 22, 2012Dot – March 22, 2012 At the Bear Center today, 2 hunters told staff that they would never, under any circumstances, shoot a female bear. Later today, we learned once again that not all hunters feel that way.

Two female bears wearing radio-collars bedecked with gaudy ribbons have been shot this year. First Aster was shot and injured on September 5. Then this afternoon, 13-year-old Dot, a favorite of many, was killed. We don’t know the details and hope to learn more. In late afternoon, her GPS locations showed her signal moved quickly from the forest to the town of Ely. We drove to Ely and located the radio-collar in the conservation officer’s truck awaiting delivery to the DNR office in Tower and eventual return to us. Lynn knocked on his door and learned that Dot was killed “in a hunting situation.”

The Research Associates who spent hundreds of hours following her life the last 12 years are feeling deep grief this evening. No one knew Dot better or was more devoted to her well being and learning about her life then they were. Dot was radio-tracked longer than any other bear in the study, beginning with her life in the den with her radio-collared mother Blackheart. Dot got her own collar when she became a yearling. There are many stories to tell about Dot’s relatively long life. Although black bears can live into their 30’s, the average age of females in the kill is 3. Dot and her sister Donna far exceeded that. Donna is still alive but is not radio-collared due to the latest DNR restrictions. Dot had a great, gentle personality and was a favorite of many who got to see her in the course of her 13 years.

One of the BFF Teams “Meet the Bears” articles does an excellent job of summarizing Dot’s life http://www.facebook.com/notes/bffbetty/meet-dot-2013/357565604374265.

Thank you for all you do.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

Hunters Murder Two Bears, Then Whine About Injuries

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2013. All Rights Reserved

Alright, I’ve had enough of this one-sided, narcissistic reporting!

Do I have to point out to the AP that their article completely missed the point here by making a hunter the victim of the story? They report that an hour after wounding the bear with an arrow… “The hunter located the wounded bear and shot it twice more with his bow. The bear then ran down the hill and encountered a man who had arrived to assist the hunter.”

WTF? How much suffering does a non-human animal have to go through before her plight is even considered by the media and she’s seen as the victim? Here’s how the AP titled the article:

Injured black bear injures hunter near Thompson Falls

Associated Press

KALISPELL — State wildlife officials say a 150-pound female black bear wounded by a bow hunter bit the arm of the hunter’s companion before succumbing to its injuries.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman John Fraley says a man was hunting near Thompson Falls on Tuesday when he shot a black bear with a bow and arrow.

The hunter waited for several hours to make sure the bear was dead before he started tracking it. The hunter located the wounded bear and shot it twice more with his bow. The bear then ran down the hill and encountered a man who had arrived to assist the hunter. The bear bit the second man’s arm before it died.

The injured man was treated at the hospital in Plains and released.

FWP says the hunter legally tagged the bear.

….and here’s another article with the same slant, which also ends with a dead bear. Note that the real victim was just out eating berries…

September 11, 2013 at 2:43 PM

Shots from other hunters halted grizzly attack in Alaska

Posted by Nick Provenza

ANCHORAGE (AP) — An Alaska grizzly bear wounded by a Rhode Island hunter survived more than 90 minutes before attacking the man and slashing his head.

Alaska State Troopers say John Matson sustained injuries Monday to his head and body. The wounds were not considered life-threatening.

Troopers tell the Anchorage Daily News that Matson was hunting with another hunter and an assistant guide.

Matson shot a bear feeding on berries. The bear rolled into brush but popped out and ran.

The hunters waited about 90 minutes before going into thick cover after the bear.

Troopers say the assistant guide heard Matson scream as the bear attacked. The other men fired shots and the bear ran off.

The men walked about a mile to their camp. Matson was flown Tuesday to Anchorage

And We Call Ourselves Civilized?

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

In agreeing with President Obama’s plan to strike Syria, Representative Nancy Pelosi was quoted as saying we must respond to actions “outside the circle of civilized human behavior.” Nice to hear that the U.S. Government thinks it has the moral authority to respond to such actions. While they’re at it, I can think of a whole lot of other actions which should be considered “outside the circle of civilized human behavior” that are desperately in need of responding to.

I’m referring, of course, to the innumerable abuses of non-human animals by humans—many that go on every day right here in the U.S. of A. I’m afraid if I were to try to list all the instances of human mistreatment of other animals which should fall outside the “circle of civilized human behavior,” the pages would fill the halls of justice, spill out onto the streets and overflow the banks of Potomac River in an unending tsunami of savagery.

So here’s just a partial list…

Wolf Hunting—No sooner did grey wolves begin to make a comeback in the Lower 48 than did the feds jerk the rug out from under them by lifting their endangered species protections and casting their fate into the clutches of hostile states. Now, hunters in Wyoming have a year-round season on them while anti-wolf fanatics in Montana have quadrupled their per person yearly kill quota.

Trapping—Only the creepiest arachnid would leave a victim suffering and struggling for days until it suits them to come along for the “harvest.” Yet “law abiding trappers” routinely leave highly sentient, social animals clamped by the foot and chained to a log to endlessly await their fate.

Hound-Hunting—“Sportsmen” not content to shoot unsuspecting prey from a distance of a hundred yards or more sometimes use hounds to make their blood-sport even more outrageously one-sided.

Bowhunting—Those who want to add a bit of challenge to their unnecessary kill-fest like to try their luck at archery. Though they often go home empty-handed, they can always boast about the “ones that got away”… with arrows painfully stuck in them.

Contest Hunts—Prairie dogs, coyotes, and in Canada, wolves, are among the noble, intelligent animals that ignoble dimwits are allowed to massacre during bloody tournaments reminiscent of the bestial Roman Games.

Horse Slaughter—After all that our equine friends have done for us over the centuries, the administration sees fit to send them in cattle trucks to those nightmarish death-camps where so many other forcibly domesticated herbivores meet their tragic ends.

Factory farming—Whether cows, sheep, pigs, chickens or turkeys, the conditions animals are forced to withstand on modern day factory farms fall well outside even the narrowest circle of civilized human compassion. To call their situations overcrowded, inhumane or unnatural does not do justice to the fiendish cruelty that farmed animals endure each and every day of their lives.

Atrocious conditions are not confined to this continent. Chickens in China (the ancestral home of some new strain of bird flu just about every other week) are treated worse than inanimate objects. Bears, rhinoceros and any other animal whose body parts are said to have properties that will harden the wieners of hard-hearted humans are hunted like there’s no tomorrow. And let’s not forget the South Korean dog and cat slaughter, or Japan’s annual dolphin round up…

Far be it from me to belittle the use of chemical weapons—my Grandfather received a purple heart after the Germans dropped mustard gas on his foxhole during World War One. I just feel that if we’re considering responding to actions “outside the circle of civilized human behavior,” we might want to strike a few targets closer to home as well. Or better yet, reign in some of our own ill-behaviors so we can justifiably call ourselves “civilized.”

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2013. All Rights Reserved

Update from the Bear-Killing Fields of Washington

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

While walking my dog this morning on the ordinarily deserted logging roads around here, I came across (in addition to several fresh piles of bear scat) boot tracks in the grass heading into a draw thick with blackberry and salmonberry bushes, where one of our local bears was murdered by a hunter (“harvested”) last August. Now, I’m hearing the report of a rifle and am wondering if the same narcissistic nimrod is out there trying to kill another of our bear friends (like some serial killer who struggled through an enforced nine-month cooling off period and, consequently, is gripped by the uncontrollable urge to satisfy his pent-up his bloodlust).

Although it’s barely berry season for the bears out there trying to stock up for the coming winter, it’s bear hunting season—as of August 1st—for Elmers and Elmerettes in the Evergreen State. Nowadays, every Elmer (or Elmerette) who wants to can kill not one, but TWO, bears apiece through November 15th!

As of last Thursday, any Washington State black bear who values his or her life will have no peace ‘til the snow flies and they’re safely tucked away in their hibernation den. Until then, they must assume there’s a camo-clad coward with a high powered rifle or compound bow aimed at them, perched in every tree they pass under.

Each year 30,000 black bears are killed by hunters in the U.S. alone. And each and every one of them was a more remarkable, more worthy being than the sadists and psychos who kill them for sport.

NC Groups offering $20,000 in dead bear case

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

Jun. 21, 2013 |

A black bear snacks on birdseed while visiting the home of Greg Perry in Black Mountain this spring. / Special to the Citizen-Times

Written by

Romando Dixson

Anyone with information about a dead, painted bear dumped on a road in Buncombe County is asked to call the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission at 800-662-7137. Callers may remain anonymous. It is a 24-hour hotline.

ASHEVILLE — As authorities Friday continued their investigation into who killed a bear, painted its head and claws, and dumped the carcass in Buncombe County, the N.C. Wildlife Federation added $17,000 in potential reward money in hopes anyone with information will speak up.

The conservation group’s addition raises the reward pool to $20,000 for the person or persons who provide information that directly leads to an arrest and criminal conviction, civil penalty assessment or forfeiture of property by the perpetrator. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Service Forest offered the initial $3,000 in reward money.

The $17,000 is the largest amount of reward money the state Wildlife Federation has offered in a poaching case, CEO Tim Gestwicki said Friday.

“This kind of ridiculous behavior necessitates a large reward to get folks to provide some tips,” he said.

“WHATS BRUIN” was written in white paint on the bear’s head, along with “w-h-a-t-s” across the claws on the right paw and “b-r-u-i-n” across the claws on the left paw, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said Thursday. The carcass was found this week on a road in northwest Buncombe County.

Authorities believe the paint was referencing Operation Something Bruin, a collaborative undercover investigation focused on the illegal poaching of bears and other wildlife in North Carolina and Georgia.

Ten individuals were convicted this month in U.S. District Court of federal charges stemming from four years of undercover work during Operation Something Bruin [see: NC Bear Poachers Finally Getting Punished.] More cases are pending in Haywood County.

It is unclear how the bear was killed, said Lt. Tim Sisk of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

“We hope the investigation yields results and that the message is crystal clear: poaching, destroying wildlife in any ways, especially cowardly acts of wanton waste in North Carolina, will not be tolerated,” Gestwicki said. “We condemn in full any illegal wildlife violations and remain resolved to assisting state and federal agencies in upholding the regulations and guiding principles of fish and wildlife management.”

The nonprofit conservation group has a wildlife poaching reward fund. Private donors provide the money, Gestwicki said. In July 2012, the state Wildlife Federation offered $15,000 for information about a case in which three elk were shot and killed in May near Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The group usually provides rewards between $1,000 and $5,000 in poaching cases. Gestwicki said can’t recall such an act and described it as atrocious and intolerable.

“We feel strongly that this malicious and cowardly act of illegal activity has no place in North Carolina,” Gestwicki said. “We are upping the ante to hopefully entice anyone with information to come forth. We are providing these resources to underscore the seriousness we place on the poaching and outright desecration of this animal.”

The True Nature of the Grizzly Bear

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

Here’s another older letter to the editor (this time to small, local paper in Northeast Washington), that I found in my archives…

A couple of months ago I may have sided with the attitude that if grizzly bears come back to the North Cascades on their own, fine, but there’s no need to reintroduce them. But now, after a rash of anti-grizzly letters have appeared in this paper, I’m ready to become one of the champions of their full recovery here. I hope your readers are laughing off the letters from these misguided, close-minded fanatics and will learn for themselves the true nature of the grizzly bear, instead of jumping on the fear bandwagon and turning their backs on this vanishing species.

One of the common misconceptions frequently stated is that these bears are fearless and have no respect for man. This would lead you to believe that grizzlies would soon be wandering the streets of Winthrop. The fact is, grizzlies will avoid man if at all possible and will choose to inhabit the most rugged and remote areas. I worked for years in known grizzly country in Montana and the Selkirk Mountains of Washington and only sighted a grizzly in those areas once (although I saw numerous black bears).

On the other hand I’ve seen scores of grizzlies and have had numerous positive encounters with them in Yellowstone and national parks in Alaska where bear hunting is not allowed. In one case, I came face to face with a large grizzly on a narrow, brushy trail. I rounded the corner and nearly prodded him with my fishing pole before seeing him. The grizzly did not charge, but merely waited until I moved off the trail before he continued on. As John Crawford put it in an article entitled, “Getting along with grizzlies,” “…Confidence devoid of cockiness and a deep basic respect and fondness for grizzlies” should be our attitude if we meet up with Ursus arctos. Crawford goes on to describe other typical bear encounters. In one case, two B.C. trail workers met a grizzly who was running toward them in pursuit of a grouse. The bear did not see the men, but when he got a scent of them, “he reacted as though he’d run into a wall. His front legs stiffened; and mud splattered as his paws pushed out to break.” Then, “the bear turned and walked slowly, sullenly away. As soon as he was out of sight…he broke into a gallop…”

To those people who can’t appreciate living near one of the last wild areas in the lower 48, there are plenty of place to live where you won’t have to face the remote possibility of encountering a wild animal. If we are not willing to allow grizzly bears to exist in the rugged Cascade Mountains, what can we say if elephants are wiped off the African continent, or pandas have joined the dinosaurs?

Beware the Beaver

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

Apparently some folks need to be reminded: don’t try to manhandle a beaver that doesn’t want to be touched.

A fisherman in Belarus learned that the hard way; when he reached down to pick it up, the beaver—no doubt feeling cornered—bit him in what was unfortunately a major artery. The 60 year old angler died of his wounds, but he was probably too old to learn from the experience anyway. Perhaps others can learn from it instead.

Again, in case you missed it above, DON’T TRY TO PICK UP WILD ANIMALS! Humans aren’t known for being the most benign of creatures, especially to a beaver, whose species we once hunted and trapped practically to extinction. It’s perfectly understandable that they would distrust an approaching two-legger, especially one who is intent on hooking fish. Any animal will do what it can to defend itself against the threat of being killed and/or eaten. Beavers have a couple of very sharp, tree-lopping teeth to resort to when push comes to shove.

Some papers reported that the human victim was trying to pick the animal up to pose with it for a photo. If so, it was another case of stupidity for the sake of vanity. Still, it won’t necessarily earn him a coveted Darwin Award; others have him beat. I knew a photographer that used to frequent Yellowstone (past tense, since he’s no longer with us) who would creep up to within a few yards of a grizzly bear’s fresh kill, hoping for a close-up shot.

Although the aim of wildlife photography is non-lethal, photographers shouldn’t take it as a free pass to disturb animals at will. Unfortunately, some who “shoot” with a camera have a mind-set similar to that of a typical trophy hunter. Wearing face paint and cammo from head to toe (some are in fact off-season hunters, while others just enjoy dressing up like one), these self-serving photographers are often seen standing along the roadway photographing animals who are quite obviously aware of their presence. Believing themselves invisible (cleverly disguised as a tree or a bush), they crowd in and get as chummy as they want to their quarry, no matter that their urge for closeness isn’t mutual.

I couldn’t count how many times I’ve seen people, both professionals and point-and-shooters, run right up to a bison, elk, moose or bear hoping for a trophy shot or souvenir. Every year, irresponsible photo-getters are gored, trampled or charged by animals annoyed enough to feel they must defend themselves. But untouchably elite Homo sapiens don’t like being put in their place, and over-protective parks’ departments routinely execute a one-strike-you’re-out policy in response to any defensive actions taken by ordinary nonhumans.

Careless behavior by photographers can force animals to leave their familiar surroundings, separate mothers from their young or interrupt natural activities necessary for survival. Hardly a day goes by without the inevitable park visitor committing the amateurish, impatient act of yelling or honking at a peaceful herbivore so he or she will quit grazing and look up towards the camera. And there’s always some joker who throws part of his sandwich out the window to draw in a bear or coyote.

Once in Yellowstone I reported such an incident to a ranger who pointed at the coyote and asked, “Is that the culprit?” “No,” was my exasperated reply, “The culprit is the guy who threw out his sandwich!”

Portions of this post were excerpted from the book, Exposing the Big Game: Living Targets of a Dying Sport

Don’t Hate Trophy Hunters yet? Read on…

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

Super-rich kill bears for ‘sport’

TOM NEWTON DUNN
in Russia

The Sun: 12th January 2011

THE World Conservation Union has upped the Asiatic black bear’s status to “vulnerable to extinction”.

Conservationists estimate there are just 50,000 left in the world.

Also known as the Tibetan black bear, the Himalayan black bear, or moon bear, they have a thick black coat and a white V marking on their chest.

They grow to about 6ft and males weigh up to 150kg. They can live up to 25 years.

They eat berries, grass, seeds, nuts, honey and some meat.

Of the world’s eight species of bear, six are at risk of extinction.

Only the American black bear and European brown bear are considered safe.

Black Bear photo Copyright Jim Robertson

In a sickening execution, a blood-crazed millionaire blasts an endangered bear to death as it hibernates.

Given no chance, the rare beast is woken in its den, terrorised and shot at point-blank range.

The grinning “hunter” then poses proudly next to its blood-drenched corpse for a twisted souvenir snap.

Hundreds of Asiatic black bears have been killed this winter in the vast forests of Siberia. And all for nothing more than sick thrills and a prized trophy hide.

The massacre of these majestic animals has become big business, flying in the face of international conventions which outlaw it, The Sun can reveal.

Yet it is not just rich Russians who are happy to exterminate their own national symbol. Well-heeled clients from Britain, the US, Germany, Spain, Poland and Finland have also booked Asiatic black hunting trips in the past year, we have discovered.

Such slayings were illegal for years, but Russian president Vladimir Putin has now relaxed his country’s ban on killing the species, to appease the super-rich.

Hunting the bears remains strictly illegal in the other countries where they live, including India, China and Japan.

Like most bears, the Asiatic black hibernates from December to the end of February, when winter snows begin to melt. Many of the females killed as they hibernate are pregnant, as they breed in the summer and autumn, ready to give birth in the spring.

In an exposé of the barbaric practice, we posed as would-be hunters to obtain shocking video footage of three recent hunts.

In an office off a busy central Moscow street, The Sun was offered a four-day trip to depart in a week’s time — with FOUR Asiatic black kills guaranteed — for the sum of £16,000.

The hibernating bears had already been located in deep forests outside the city of Khabarovsk, 3,500 miles east of Moscow.

A travel business named Slavic Trophy Club is one of a handful in Moscow that take bear hunters to the killing fields.

Slavic Trophy Club’s Nikolai Lynkov assured us: “They are there ready and waiting for you. I can promise you four kills for sure, maybe six if you are lucky.

“It is legal in Russia to hunt Asiatic black bears. There is no problem with that. You just have to be 18 years old.”

The persecuted bears do not die a quick and painless death.

To coax them out of their dens into the waiting gunman’s firing line, organisers resort to extraordinarily cruel tactics.

Lynkov explained: “We know where the bears are because we pay local people to keep track of them.

“They like to hibernate in hollow tree trunks but sometimes it is not easy to get them out.

“Don’t worry though, they always come — even if we have to cut them out.”

On one of the hunts we have video footage of, it took workers 20 minutes of torture to force a bear to climb out of its tree trunk into the sights of the hunter, standing 15 metres away.

At first, two men jabbed the animal with sharpened spears through a hole cut in the tree’s base. When that didn’t work, one of them threw a smoke grenade into the trunk in a bid to choke the bear out. That too failed, so oily rags were lit to set fire to the den. Then several pistol rounds were fired to scare the bear into movement.

Only when the workers began to chainsaw through the hollow trunk to get at the bear did it finally climb the trunk and emerge. On reaching the top, the bleary-eyed giant gave a chilling roar once it saw its pursuers.

It made a desperate last attempt to scamper off to safety — but was gunned down in the snow after only a few paces.

For an extra £800, Slavic Trophy Club promised to skin any bear we killed, make it into a rug, and fly it to London.

Or for £4,000 we could have the whole beast stuffed and shipped instead. Some hunting firms openly trade in the twisted “sport” in the West.

Sergei Shushunov is a Russian-American who runs the Russian Hunting Agency from his home town of Glencoe, Illinois. When we approached him posing as rich hunters he also promised to organise for us the killing of a bear woken from hibernation.

Trying to justify the activity, Shushunov said: “Denned bear hunting in Russia is as old as trapping. In old times it required nothing but a spear. The adrenaline rush can be incredible.”

Hunting Asiatic bears was legalised in Russia four years ago. Bored of slaughtering the more common brown bear, oil and gas-rich Russians craved a special trophy for the walls of their gaudily decorated homes and offices.

With soft and long fur, an Asiatic bear’s hide is highly prized because of the rarity of the animals.

Their numbers are now so depleted, they are all but impossible to find in the wild — which is why hunts resort to killing them in their dens.

Animal campaigners last night demanded that ministers act on The Sun’s investigation and lobby President Putin to stop the barbaric hunting.

International wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation said: “This simply has to stop. The Asiatic black bear is highly endangered, under constant assault in the wild throughout the continent, and even incarcerated in tiny cages in China to be milked for stomach bile, which is used in medicine there.

“We should all demand at the highest levels of government that Russia immediately stops all hunting of wild bears. Until then, there will be a price on the head of every wild bear in the country.”

The World Conservation Union’s bear expert Dr David Garshelis said: “There is a threat that the Asiatic black bear may soon be extinct in entire countries. We are very worried.

“It is alarming to hear that this is happening in Russia. The ethics of exactly how it is done is also a concern.

“There is clearly no sport in this practice at all. We are very pleased you have made this report.”

t.newtondunn@the-sun.co.uk

View photos and video of Sick hunters gun down bears; Gunmen laugh as they target bears; Sitting duck … terrified bear scrambles from it’s burning den into the killer’s sights Here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/762288/News-Endangered-bears-Killed-for-sport.html#ixzz2TChxbdV4

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

Snaring’s About the Sickest

In Alaska, bears—in addition to wolves—are routinely hunted, trapped and shot from planes under the deathly ill-advised notion that eliminating those animals leaves more moose or caribou for more hunters to slay. What the Alaska state Board of “Game” can’t seem to figure out is, as the number of hunters goes up, the quantity of moose goes down, simple as that. Will we have to see an Alaska devoid of bears and wolves before the game players finally figure out who’s to blame?

But if anything could be sicker than aerial gunning for bears, it’s snaring them. Bear snaring is a recent addition to Alaska’s long history of animal abuse and exploitation; this new act of depravity was allowed “experimentally” for the first time in 2008.

In the following excerpt from an article, posted January 12, 2012 in the Anchorage Press, Bill Sherwonit dared to imagine just what snaring is really like for its victims:

Picture this: An adult female grizzly bear is roaming forested lowlands on the western side of Cook Inlet when she gets a whiff of ripe, decaying flesh. Sensing an easy meal, the bear follows her nose to a large tree. Several feet above the ground, a bucket partly filled with rotting guts and skin has been attached to the tree; placed on its side, the open-lidded container faces outward, inviting inspection. The grizzly stands and sniffs around the cavity, then sticks her right paw into it. When the paw hits the bottom of the pail, it triggers a metal snare that closes around the animal’s foot. Feeling the pinch of the trap, the grizzly pulls back. As she does, the metal loop tightens.

Two cubs have followed her to the bait. Now, sensing their mother’s agitation, they too become upset. One begins to bawl. This only deepens the adult bear’s determination to free herself. With her free paw she swats and tears at the bucket and tree and she pulls even harder against the snare, which begins to cut through the animal’s thick fur and into her flesh. Now the embodiment of rage, the adult grizzly roars and snaps her jaws, thrashes about. The cubs wail louder.

Eventually exhausted by her struggles, the grizzly mom slumps against the tree, while the whimpering cubs huddle together nearby. More time passes and the trapped grizzly resumes her fight for freedom. The cubs again cry in panic.

It goes like this for hours. A day might pass before the trapper-called a “snare permittee” by state wildlife officials-comes to check the snare, even longer if he’s delayed for some reason. When he does show up, the grizzly mom goes berserk. Depending on their age and personalities, the cubs might charge the person, run off, or huddle in fear. These two retreat into nearby bushes.

The trapper could legally shoot the cubs, now in their second year, but he chooses to ignore the small, frightened bears and heads for their mom. He takes aim, fires his gun, and kills her…

The cubs remain in hiding. Without their mother, it’s more likely they will starve than survive the summer.

Even five years ago, the idea was unimaginable: trap and shoot Alaska’s bears so that human hunters might kill more moose.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. Always trying to come up with new ways to rid Alaska’s landscape of competitors for moose and caribou meat, at least a few predator-control proponents, Ted Spraker among them, were looking toward Maine, then the only state to allow the snaring of bears. The retired Department of Fish and Game biologist worked nearly three decades to increase kills of wolves and bears, primarily to benefit sport hunters.…

Stomach churning stuff—those “snare permitees” must be as callous as they come. I’m just glad Sherwinot saved me the heartache of making the imaginary journey myself this time.

The late, Canadian naturalist and author, R D Lawrence, wrote:

“Killing for sport, for fur, or to increase a hunter’s success by slaughtering predators is totally abhorrent to me. I deem such behavior to be barbaric, a symptom of the social sickness that causes our species to make war against itself at regular intervals with weapons whose killing capacities have increased horrendously since man first made use of the club—weapons that today are continuing to be ‘improved’.”

Contact in for the Alaska Board of Game can be found here: https://exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/stop-bear-snaring-and-wolf-trapping-adjacent-to-denali/

Stop Bear Snaring and Wolf Trapping Adjacent to Denali

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Exposing the Big Game

Please Tell the Board of Game to Vote “Yes” to Stop Bear Snaring and “Yes” to Create a No-Trapping Buffer Zone Adjacent to Denali!

Dear Wildlife Supporter,

The Alaska Board of Game will meet in Wasilla from February 8 – 15, 2013 to vote on proposals governing wildlife management regulations for the Central and Southwest regions of Alaska.

The BOG has many, many proposals to consider at this meeting – there are many worthy proposals to support and even more that need to be opposed. However, AWA is focusing on two crucial issues: bear snaring (Proposal 105) and protecting Denali’s wolves (Proposal 86).

You may review all of the proposals online via the link below and make additional comments on as many as you choose.

E-mail comments on the proposals are due to info@akwildlife.org by 5:00 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013, and we will deliver them to the Board of Game prior to the start of the meeting. (The BOG does not accept comments via e-mail.)

Comments should specifically state “support” or “oppose” and the proposal number(s) on which you are commenting.

Comments also may be faxed or mailed so they are received by the Board of Game before February 7.

Comments:

ATTN: Board of Game Comments
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Boards Support Section
P.O. Box 115526
Juneau, AK 99811-5526

Fax comments to:
(907) 465-6094

The current BOG proposal book is available in pdf format online at: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.meetinginfo. Proposal numbers 45 through 126 (pages 62 – 198) are scheduled to be considered at this meeting.

We are asking you to please comment in support of the following two proposals:

Proposal 105 (page 158), submitted by AWA, would ban grizzly and black bear snaring in the Southwest and Central regions.

* Scientists overwhelmingly agree that bear snaring is indiscriminate, cruel and not biologically sustainable.

* Bear snaring is an extremely controversial method of killing animals. The BOG tarnishes Alaska’s image for residents and non-residents alike by insisting on continuing its war on predators. Bear snaring has never been allowed in Alaska since statehood until the BOG approved an experimental program in 2008.

* Because bear snaring is indiscriminate, females with dependent cubs and cubs themselves are at risk. Bears have one of the lowest reproductive rates and it is for this reason modern scientific management principles discourage the harvest of females.

* Enforcement will be a nightmare for the Alaska State Troopers, who are already stretched thin.

* There are the dangers to other consumptive users, hikers and their pets who may come upon a situation where one bear is caught while its siblings or mother remain free in the area, creating the very real possibility of severe injuries or fatalities.The baited traps also create food-conditioned bears, and animals which learn to associate food with humans are a danger to our communities.

* Bear snaring is archaic, cruel and should be banned.

* Living bears have a very high value as a tourism draw and a source of revenue. They are almost always cited as one of the “big three” species visitors come to Alaska to see.

Proposal 86 (page 126) would re-establish a no-trapping buffer zone adjacent to Denali National Park. This proposal would provide crucial protection for wolves that wander across the Park boundary onto state land in search of prey or mates, where they are targeted by several recreational trappers.

* Wolf populations (and therefore viewing opportunities) have declined significantly in the Park due in part to trapping along the east and south Park boundary. The most recent official survey (Spring 2012) found a total of only 70 wolves in nine packs in the six million acre park – one of the lowest populations in decades.

* Several hundred thousand visitors annually travel to Denali to view wolves and other wildlife. Two or three recreational trappers targeting wolves habituated to the sight and smell of humans should not be allowed to negate visitors’ viewing opportunities (nor the millions of dollars they spend in the state).

* The loss of only one wolf to these trappers can result in a huge impact on viewing opportunities in the Park. Last spring the alpha female of the Grant Creek pack was trapped and killed just outside the Park boundary. The pack produced no pups last year, and subsequently dispersed. For years the Grant Creek pack had offered hundreds of thousands of Park visitors the best, most frequent opportunities to view wild wolves.

[Note: a six year moratorium on submitting proposals to re-establish a Denali buffer zone was enacted by the BOG in 2010. A request to the BOG in January to rescind its moratorium was met with a quick, unanimous refusal to even consider the matter. It is not known how the BOG will deal with Proposal 86 at the February meeting.]

Please take the time to speak out on behalf of Alaska’s wildlife. Our bears and wolves need your support.

As ever, thank you for your support and for your commitment to Alaska’s wildlife.

Best regards,
Tina M. Brown
President
Alaska Wildlife Alliance

PS: We will of course let you know the outcome of these and other proposals after the conclusion of the BOG meeting.

Alaska Wildlife Alliance
P.O. Box 202022
Anchorage, AK 99520
info@akwildlife.org
http://www.akwildlife.org

Exposing the Big Game

Forget Hunters' Feeble Rationalizations and Trust Your Gut Feelings: Making Sport of Killing Is Not Healthy Human Behavior

Tag Archives: bear

Female Bear named “Dot” Killed by Hunters