Category Archives: bears

True Wildlife Crime Saga: Grizzly Edition

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Yellowstone grizzly

A grizzly in Yellowstone, but NOT the one in the Slate article

On Oct. 2, 2011 a grizzly bear known as the Wapiti sow was put to death for the crime of killing two humans in Yellowstone National Park. The decision to kill the grizzly sow did not come easily and was dependent on DNA evidence that put her at the scene of both deaths.

In this thoughtful, lengthy article in Slate, senior editor Jessica Grose looks at the entire process, from the humans’ deaths to the grizzly’s. It features US Fish and Wildlife Service  grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen and Yellowstone bear manager Kerry Gunther. It’s worth your time, especially if you’ve ever been the one to make the tough decision to kill an animal in the hope of keeping the public safe.

Read it here: A Death in Yellowstone.

Photo by Terry Tollefsbol, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

True Wildlife Crime Saga: Grizzly Edition

Posted on by
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Yellowstone grizzly

A grizzly in Yellowstone, but NOT the one in the Slate article

On Oct. 2, 2011 a grizzly bear known as the Wapiti sow was put to death for the crime of killing two humans in Yellowstone National Park. The decision to kill the grizzly sow did not come easily and was dependent on DNA evidence that put her at the scene of both deaths.

In this thoughtful, lengthy article in Slate, senior editor Jessica Grose looks at the entire process, from the humans’ deaths to the grizzly’s. It features US Fish and Wildlife Service  grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen and Yellowstone bear manager Kerry Gunther. It’s worth your time, especially if you’ve ever been the one to make the tough decision to kill an animal in the hope of keeping the public safe.

Read it here: A Death in Yellowstone.

Photo by Terry Tollefsbol, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

March Roundup of New Research

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Spring is here and a bunch of wildlife surveys are underway around the country.

In Delaware:
-It’s the fifth and final year of the Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas.
-A special effort is being made in 2012 to tally owls as part of the atlas.
–Horseshoe crabs are being tallied again, and volunteers are being trained.
-The annual osprey count is offering a volunteer training for the first time since 2007.

Maryland is two years in to four years of surveys for an amphibian and reptile atlas and is looking for volunteers.

In Kansas, they are searching for lesser prairie chicken breeding areas, or leks, from the air with helicopters. Field crews will train on March 29-31 and conduct official survey work across all of western Kansas until the middle of May. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is also asking people to report leks. The survey is part of a five-state effort, and the survey technique will be evaluated.

In North Dakota, the Game and Fish Department has launched a two-year study of white-tailed deer in intensely farmed agricultural areas.

In Maine, biologists at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have visited up to 100 dens each winter for 37 years, making the survey in the nation’s oldest radio-collar monitoring program for bears. This year the Maine Sunday Telegram wrote a story about it, with lots of pics. Read it here.

And in Washington, commuters have been reporting wildlife sightings for over a year on the I-90 corridor in anticipation of road improvements. The project’s first annual report was released recently, generating articles in the Everett Herald  and The Seattle Times, and coverage other media.

Photo of I-90 Wildlife Watch billboard by Paula MacKay/Western Transportation Institute, used by permission.

4th International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop

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Didn’t make it to the sold-out 4th International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop, that started on March 20 and ends today in Missoula, Montana? The Missoulian has a brief round up, aimed at general readers. (Who knew that round doorknobs could be such a successful bear deterrent?)

If you want more info on human-bear conflicts, an excellent summary of the 3rd International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop (November 2009) is on-line.

More on the conference from the Missoulian: an article on a presentation on electricity (fences, mats) as a bear deterrent. Read it here.

Photo: Black bear courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Bear Hunts

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Last week the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that it would go ahead with its black bear management plan, as well as with the plan to remove the animal from the state’s threatened species list. (Read the press release here. For the management plan itself, go here.) Florida has seen an increase in black bears, which has fueled speculation that the Commission might allow bear hunting in the future, a point mentioned in this article in the Tampa Bay Newspapers.

As black bear populations grow in the East, discussion of hunting as a management tool is prevalent. This NPR story on bear population increases in the Appalachians addresses the issue. Earlier this winter the desire to have fewer bears in suburban areas in New Jersey was contrasted with the desire of some not to kill any bears. Read one of the many stories covering the controversy at NJ.com.

Photo of Florida black bear cub courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Bear Hunts

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Last week the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that it would go ahead with its black bear management plan, as well as with the plan to remove the animal from the state’s threatened species list. (Read the press release here. For the management plan itself, go here.) Florida has seen an increase in black bears, which has fueled speculation that the Commission might allow bear hunting in the future, a point mentioned in this article in the Tampa Bay Newspapers.

As black bear populations grow in the East, discussion of hunting as a management tool is prevalent. This NPR story on bear population increases in the Appalachians addresses the issue. Earlier this winter the desire to have fewer bears in suburban areas in New Jersey was contrasted with the desire of some not to kill any bears. Read one of the many stories covering the controversy at NJ.com.

Photo of Florida black bear cub courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Facebook for Bears

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In Incline Village, Nevada, on Lake Tahoe, a group has created a Facebook page to post photos of local businesses who leave their garbage bins unlocked. The town had been plagued by bears earlier this year, leading to the controversial killing of one bear. The Facebook group believes that the unsecured dumpsters were the main thing that were attracting the bears into town.

Apparently, the idea has worked, and the page is now more focused on stopping a local bear hunt and on residential garbage lapses. A status message on the page says that local businesses have not protested or given the group a hard time about the public shaming.

Here’s the Associated Press story, as it appeared in the Deseret News (which, yes, is in Utah, but the story is the same no matter what publication you read it in).

Here’s the background on the large, unstoppable bear that was creating havoc earlier this year, again from the AP, as posted by Fox40.

And finally, here’s the Lake Tahoe Wall of Shame Facebook page. 1,013 people liked it when this item was posted.

Will public shaming work for your unsecured garbage problem? The fact that this is a citizens’ group, and not an government entity makes all the difference, I think. I’m actually surprised that this worked at all, but all the more power to this group for solving the problem quickly and with seemingly few hard feelings.

Photo: Just a random black bear, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service