Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I put the agency that killed the poor bear at blame rather than the guy that took the selfie with it. Most of the people in the comments below the article feel the same way as I do. So now we kill a bear for being friendly, rather than being aggressive. Kill, kill, kill, that is all they know. RIP friendly bear. This was not necessary!!
That was not a "friendly" bear, that was an "opportunistic" bear. The difference between them would make Mr Disney roll over in his grave. Bears are not social animals...they are solitary. "Friendly" doesn't compute. Read a real book about bears. Those people feeding it are going to change their tune (and so, I bet, would you) as soon as that bear decided to tear the siding off their house, claw up their cars, break windows, scatter their garbage, bulldoze their gardens, consume their pets, or look halfway sideways at their kids (yes, an adult bear would consider a small kid a meal). As soon as that happens (and it will), the bear becomes the life-threatening nuisance they'll scream that someone else must get rid of. At that point they won't care all that much about the method as long as the nuisance goes away and Disneyland is restored. In many ways, shooting that poor bear was a mercy killing. It was a matter of time before someone shot it and not necessarily fatally. Do you really believe someone who works for a wildlife management agency wants to kill the wildlife they are supposed to protect from people??? Often, before an agency steps in, one of those self-proclaimed bear restaraunteurs ends up shooting dinner guests who overstay their welcome themselves. Justifies owning a "protection firearm" and proving they are men.
You also might spend a little effort reading studies about bear/human interaction, habituation, tolerance, conditioning, living harmoniously with them in their country, and efforts made to prevent trouble between the two species. Do you want a list? Funny thing is, the frequency of bear deaths, property damage, livestock killings, and human maulings drops once human-supplied food is unavailable. I wonder why that is? Take a wild guess. Mr Treadwell was an utter fool and paid the price for it. Most bear-savvy people I meet and work with (and just about everyone in the communities I live in are bear savvy with a few exceptions) regarded him as a ridiculous menace. No other human who might meet one of his so-called known bears is going to benefit from his actions. Just the opposite. And those bears will die thanks to him. It was just a matter of time before he was killed and eaten. Few people here blinked an eye when it happened. It wasn't because the bears were mean and aggressive, it was because they were bears and he was a confusing intruder who chose not to respect what they were.
Oh, before I forget. You do realize that bears prey on each other right? That transplanted bear has a very good chance of being killed and eaten by another bear. If it is transported far enough, it gets dumped in a place it doesn't know, maybe ends up starving, gets confronted by a more dominant bear that does know it, and will be injured or killed as a result. Transplantation doesn't always work for multiple reasons, not just distance.
My dear, I'd suggest you spend some time living in bear country. You will have your eyes opened. It will be best for everybody, especially the bears. They are not malicious, not friendly, not cute. When I want a photo of a bear I don't want one showing it ransacking someone's garbage dump, stinking and slimy. Neither do I want one of a bear living a emotionally-deprived, sad shadow of a life in some shoestring budget cramped "sanctuary" or zoo. Humiliating, disgusting, disrespectful. They are themselves and should be allowed to live their lives as dignified independent creatures not food-enslaved pathetic camera fodder.
Last edited by Parnassia; 06-18-2019 at 02:48 PM..
Why kill it? Why can't they just trap it and give it to a wild life sanctuary?
As one zero empathy person posted on the Oregon forum, "Cheaper to kill it. As a taxpayer, I appreciate that logic."
To put it in perspective. Humans attack and kill 50,000 bears a year. Bears attack and kill about one human every two years, and in most of those cases the human was doing something stupid. But people are in so much danger from these animals, that they just have to slaughter them.
BTW I'm not against killing wildlife, if they are being aggressive and threatening humans, but this was clearly not the case. This bear was just peacefully eating sunflower seeds, that had been left for it.
BTW I'm not against killing wildlife, if they are being aggressive and threatening humans, but this was clearly not the case. This bear was just peacefully eating sunflower seeds, that had been left for it.
What part of "he isn't going to stay peaceful" are you not getting?
Once a bear discovers that it can obtain food from humans, he'll get more and more aggressive about obtaining it, and eventually a person is going to get badly hurt. Bears aren't into sharing.
That bear was doomed as soon as people started to feed it. Don't feed wild animals!
It's a very common, but sad, truth in bear inhabited areas. The motto "A fed bear is a dead bear" is only far too true. I wish people would learn this about all wild animals. They are wild, and need to remain wild. Don't try to approach wild animals, if you are close enough that the animal changes its behavior (moves away, gets spooked, or approaches you) then you are TOO CLOSE.
Either way I'm done with this discussion. Whether or not you objectively look at this disease and understand what I was talking about won't change my life or your life in any shape or form. Besides, the whole reason we began discussing this subject is because you stated that the kitten in my story probably died a horrible death from raccoon roundworm. I think I have established that was clearly not the case.
Good. That works for me. And no, I didn't state that that the kitten probably died a horrible death.
For anyone else who cares, read this before feeding raccoons on your property. Indications exist that incidents of baylisascaris procyonis Even if you don't have domestic pets or children (both of which may be more vulnerable to this), encouraging raccoon populations in the neighborhood could put other people's kids and pets at risk.
What part of "he isn't going to stay peaceful" are you not getting?
Once a bear discovers that it can obtain food from humans, he'll get more and more aggressive about obtaining it, and eventually a person is going to get badly hurt. Bears aren't into sharing.
That bear was doomed as soon as people started to feed it. Don't feed wild animals!
Cloudy doesn't get a lot of things, but I think a lot of his oppositional posts are just ploys for attention.
That was not a "friendly" bear, that was an "opportunistic" bear. The difference between them would make Mr Disney roll over in his grave. Bears are not social animals...they are solitary. "Friendly" doesn't compute. Read a real book about bears. Those people feeding it are going to change their tune (and so, I bet, would you) as soon as that bear decided to tear the siding off their house, claw up their cars, break windows, scatter their garbage, bulldoze their gardens, consume their pets, or look halfway sideways at their kids (yes, an adult bear would consider a small kid a meal). As soon as that happens (and it will), the bear becomes the life-threatening nuisance they'll scream that someone else get rid of. At that point they won't care all that much about the method as long as the nuisance goes away and Disneyland is restored. In many ways, shooting that poor bear was a mercy killing. It was a matter of time before someone shot it and not necessarily fatally. Do you really believe someone who works for a wildlife management agency wants to kill the wildlife they are supposed to protect from people??? Often, before an agency steps in, one of those self-proclaimed bear restaraunteurs ends up shooting dinner guests who overstay their welcome themselves. Justifies owning a "protection firearm" and proving they are men.
You also might spend a little effort reading studies about bear/human interaction, habituation, living harmoniously with them in their country, and efforts made to prevent trouble between the two species. Do you want a list? Funny thing is, the frequency of bear deaths, property damage, livestock killings, and human maulings drops once human food is unavailable. I wonder why that is? Take a wild guess. Mr Treadwell was an utter fool and paid the price for it. Most bear-savvy people I meet and work with (and just about everyone in the communities I live in are bear savvy with a few exceptions) regarded him as a ridiculous menace. No other human who might meet one of his so-called known bears is going to benefit from his actions. Just the opposite. It was just a matter of time before he was killed and eaten. Few people here blinked an eye when it happened. It wasn't because the bears were mean and aggressive, it was because they were bears and he was a confusing intruder who chose not to respect what they were.
Oh, before I forget. You do realize that bears prey on each other right? That transplanted bear has a very good chance of being killed and eaten by another bear. If it is transported far enough, it gets dumped in a place it doesn't know, maybe ends up starving, gets confronted by a more dominant bear that does know it, and will be injured or killed as a result. Transplantation doesn't always work for multiple reasons, not just distance.
My dear, I'd suggest you spend some time living in bear country. You will have your eyes opened. It will be best for everybody, especially the bears. They are not malicious, not friendly, not cute. When I want a photo of a bear I don't want one showing it ransacking someone's garbage dump, stinking and slimy. Neither do I want one of a bear living a emotionally-deprived, sad shadow of a life in some shoestring budget cramped "sanctuary" or zoo. Humiliating, disgusting, disrespectful. They are themselves and should be allowed to live their lives as dignified independent creatures not food-enslaved pathetic camera fodder.
To put it in perspective. Humans attack and kill 50,000 bears a year. Bears attack and kill about one human every two years, and in most of those cases the human was doing something stupid.
Well, if you consider hunting a bear during a legal state season stupid...
I don't have the proof at hand, but could probably find it without too much trouble. I'm fairly confident that the majority of your so-called 50,000 human "attacks" on bears are the result of legal hunting or trapping under state-issued licenses. Bears are managed as game or furbearer species in most states.
Last edited by Parnassia; 06-18-2019 at 02:52 PM..
What part of "he isn't going to stay peaceful" are you not getting?
Once a bear discovers that it can obtain food from humans, he'll get more and more aggressive about obtaining it, and eventually a person is going to get badly hurt. Bears aren't into sharing.
That bear was doomed as soon as people started to feed it. Don't feed wild animals!
So let's preemptively kill everything that is peaceful, because it might not stay peaceful.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
RIP friendly bear. This was not necessary!!
