We have a bit of a bear problem here in Saint John. Coming from Alberta, I can appreciate that bears are a little scary. I have ran across one in a campground back in Jasper and he was a little grouchy, and I wouldn't want to meet one in an alley with lets say a hot dog in my hands. At first I was on the side of the humans. The bears were getting too close to their property, scrounging around their garbage, peeking through people's patio doors and waiting out by the swing sets.
As said previously it was a pretty slow news week, and thought all the bear coverage was simply filler, but no. It seems they became the "bane" (excuse the pun) of the SJ police and there lies the problem.
New Brunswick Fish and Wildlife people should be evolved as well, they however are not giving their expertise on the situation. For days they were trying to lure the bears away with tasty treats, such as honey, Timmy's doughnuts and Crosby's molasses. That last choice may have been pushing it a bit, but it seems that none of these epicurean bear delights did not work. So the next best choice it seemed were to - kill them!
This was where I switched my allegiance and sided with the bears. Number one it is our fault that they are this close to urban centers to begin with, and then the home owners in question did nothing less but attract them in the first place. Now I know that black bears are not an in-dangered species but neither are humans, and we don't kill them when they become bother.
Due to the changing environment, bears are either losing their habitat or the sources of their food. In that case, bears, being highly adaptive, search for other sources of food – the food or even garbage that humans make. Bears are naturally shy and would avoid being seen by man, but when their survival is at stake, they get over their people-shyness and attempt to steal some snacks from humans.
If you do see a bear, you should not be afraid. They are just hungry creatures looking for food. It is only very rare that these bears attack people. Bears only attack people when you get in the way of their food or their cubs.
Hunters place bait in a barrel to attract the bears, and when these intelligent, gentle, and curious animals come to eat, they are shot—often several times before they die. Many bears escape wounded and face a slow death from blood loss, gangrene, or other infections, dehydration, or starvation.
Because of the barbaric nature of bear baiting, it has been banned in British Columbia and many U.S. states. Many Canadians and numerous hunting and conservation groups agree that this is a cruel and unsportsmanlike practice, yet black bears continue to be mercilessly slaughtered in Canada.
Mother bears who are killed leave behind orphaned cubs who- as was the case last week, when they killed the mother bear in West SJ - are completely dependent on them for food during their first 17 months, and when left in the wilderness alone, they often cannot survive. In many areas there are few restrictions against shooting mother bears with nursing cubs, leading to the destruction of entire families. Last week they killed one mother bear of two cubs, which are frightened and hiding themselves, tucked quietly away as they're mother trained them to do - in dangerous situations. They probably won't be found and will slowly starve to death.
Taken from the Telegraph Journal - Police shot and killed a female bear in west Saint John Thursday night, after she charged at them while they were standing on the deck of a home in Westgate Park. "The boys went down, they got a call about 8:30 and they went down to see what was going on," said Les Jarvis, resource ranager for District 3 of the Department of Natural Resources. They saw the bear in a driveway on Mountfield Crescent and had to back away from her because she wouldn't give ground. "Then they got up on a deck at the back of the house and the bear came at them so they put that bear down," Jarvis said. "That one was fairly aggressive - the boys hadn't seen one like that awhile." "The other two bears that might be in the are a may be last year's cubs that the same female had, so we are not sure how aggressive they are," he said. "They don't seem to be causing much problem right now."
She charged because her cubs were there as well - this was simply a natural protective mother bear reaction! Well trained animal officers would have seen this -killing her for protecting her cubs is horrific!
Sounds so expertly and humanely handled - what a joke! Shooting the bear should have been the absolute last alternative. And oh - I don't know - why not come armed with tranquilizers instead on lethal ammunition. Police just itchin to shoot something it seems!!
Til later
anther interesting tid bit
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