And more North American Bear Center contoroversy

[mabr]

When is it going to stop?????? Now another is supposed to be killed by a vicious BEAR hunter in MN. One that didnt have a collar on this time but had a following from facebook

Im so sick of this. IMO this place needs to be shut down, research? Maybe but turning it into this? Give me a break there wild animals!!!!

[jeffreyd]

huge article about Hope the baby bear that is missing now, supposedly shot legally by a hunter. People are crying kids are crying, teachers are crying, according to the article. Just crazy.

[ERdeerhunter]

And in other news, thousands of deer died slow deaths in Northern Minnesota last year due to severe winter conditions and wolves, but nobody cares about them because they weren't born on a webcam. Morons.

[mrklean]

And in other news millions of children are suffering from malnutrition but who cares a bear with a Facebook page might have been legally shot the horror

[Random guy]

When is it going to stop??????

Most likely never. Or until Bear populations sore. Once black bear start damaging rose bushes and $29.95 garbage cans. Or biting chunks out of front decks and chasing around family pets in the suburbs. Then we will have an outcry for population control. Just like the so called mythical and beautiful Timber Wolf…that is now killing and eating its way to problems, or at least to a public relations wipeout.

Those that preach as shepherds should come down off the hill and spent some time in the flock. Maybe see things from another level.

[Harv]

What about those black bears killing the new born fawns and calf moose?

[Gofishleech]

I heard it on a Bemidji radio station yesterday and thought,,,is this news ?? come on, a bear was killed during bear season. My wife was with and was sadend over it. I had to convince her that it was not a big deal, it was a bear harvested during season!!

[Jameson]

Does anyone know if the bear was killed by wolves?

[leech~~]

Most likely never. Or until Bear populations sore. Once black bear start damaging rose bushes and $29.95 garbage cans. Or biting chunks out of front decks and chasing around family pets in the suburbs. Then we will have an outcry for population control. Just like the so called mythical and beautiful Timber Wolf…that is now killing and eating its way to problems, or at least to a public relations wipeout.

Johnny, I was thinking the very same thing this morning. I really think the department we pay to educate the public on Wildlife needs to get out in front of this one and give the poor Web watchers some real info on the lives of Bears and Bear Hunting! Or are they going to let Lynn Rogers speak for them on the subject? Well since he is the EXPERT and they know nothing over there in St. Paul maybe!

[Farmboy1]

Just so I can get my facts straight.

1. A bear without a collar was in an area

2. A bear without a collar was legally harvested

3. Lily has not been seen

4. This horrible hunter who harvested a bear legally is a terrible person and we should all hate him/her.

OK, got it.

[Cheetah]

BBC is now covering this story.

[Northlander]

Who cares its a bear. A small bear but a bear.

[Surface Tension]

My porridge is too hot.

Maybe its mother finally ran it off since she has a cub.

My porridge is too cold.

Maybe it got harvested by a hunter.

My porridge is just right.

Wolves could have gotten it.

Someones been sleeping in my bed.

Hit by a car?

Maybe it doesn't want to be messed with by Lynn Rodgers any more.

Someones been sleeping in my bed too.

Maybe it moved off on its own, its what bears do.

And They All Lived Happily Ever After.

Its so confusing.

[leech~~]

My porridge is too hot.

Maybe its mother finally ran it off since she has a cub.

My porridge is too cold.

Maybe it got harvested by a hunter.

My porridge is just right.

Wolves could have gotten it.

Someones been sleeping in my bed.

Hit by a car?

Maybe it doesn't want to be messed with by Lynn Rodgers any more.

Someones been sleeping in my bed too.

Maybe it moved off on its own, its what bears do.

And They All Lived Happily Ever After.

Its so confusing.

Um Don't do that again!

Stick to what you know best, every other line!

[Boar]

Wow, Now that really chaps my hide! Stupid MFS!

[jdime]

I decided to read some of the posts on their site.

http://www.bearstudy.org/HSOforum/research/daily-updates/1404-hope-hunting-and-the-media-.html

This is an important acknowledgement:

"For the record, although we do not want research bears killed, we do support hunting as a way to limit bears to the number people will accept as we try to expand acceptance through education."

Viewing the bear's death as a tragedy is nutty. But nice to hear they support hunting at some level.

[mrklean]

I decided to read some of the posts on their site.

http://www.bearstudy.org/HSOforum/research/daily-updates/1404-hope-hunting-and-the-media-.html

This is an important acknowledgement:

"For the record, although we do not want research bears killed, we do support hunting as a way to limit bears to the number people will accept as we try to expand acceptance through education."

Viewing the bear's death as a tragedy is nutty. But nice to hear they support hunting at some level.

Personally i think that they say that as a front to stay on the DNR's good side, they have no proof the bear is dead besides it being missing, yet they go on tv and say a hunter just put bait out then she went missing sounds like they are blaiming hunters right away

[schmoe147]

I think some of you have really good points.I think you should go to the facebook page and tell them how you feel, I think I might just do that but I'm worried I would probally make the news for being a [badWordUsage]. Farmboy said it best

[Big Tom]

Hope lost: Bear shot by hunter, researcher says

Article by: MARY LYNN SMITH , Star Tribune Updated: September 28, 2011 - 5:58 AM

Lynn Rogers says hunter didn't know he'd killed Internet sensation.

Hope, the Minnesota black bear whose birth and life made her an Internet darling, apparently was shot and killed by a hunter this month, bringing some of her thousands of Facebook friends to tears and others to rage.

Bear researcher Lynn Rogers had been resigned to the idea Hope had been shot since she went missing but wanted confirmation. He apparently got that when a hunter, a friend of Rogers', sent him an e-mail Tuesday saying he shot a yearling drawn to bait he set out to attract bear. The hunter told Rogers the bear wasn't wearing a radio collar, which would have identified it as a research animal.

Rogers said Hope was able to get out of the collar each of the four times he placed one on her. But Rogers and his researchers were able to track Hope because she and her mother, Lily, and a cub named Faith traveled together. The researchers last saw the three together Sept. 14.

The next day, Rogers said, the GPS-tracking collar Lily wears indicated the bears were feeding at the hunter's bait. Rogers said Lily's tracking device also indicated she was back Sept. 17. But three days later, the researchers realized Hope was missing when they spotted Lily and Faith without her.

With bear hunting season in effect, Rogers said he was "very worried" Hope had been killed, setting off a stream of Facebook messages from fans expressing sadness and some expressing anger over hunting.

On Tuesday, Rogers tried to tamp down the outrage with posts on Lily's Facebook page and on the North American Bear Center HSOforum.

"The hunter is known to us and has cooperated with us in the past," he posted. "He would never shoot a collared bear and would not have deliberately shot Hope." Rogers told followers he was keeping the hunter's name confidential, saying "attacks on him or hunters in general will only serve to undermine our potential for future research and education."

Although he doesn't want research bears killed, Rogers noted that he supports hunting "as a way to limit bears to the number people will accept as we try to expand acceptance through education."

It's not illegal to shoot a research bear, but the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has asked hunters not to.

Rogers said he has not seen the dead bear but is confident it is Hope because she had been with Lily and Faith at the bait site. The researchers found an area 165 yards from the bait where a bear, likely Lily, bedded down.

It's likely Lily and Faith were resting there when Hope scampered off to the bait Sept. 16.

"Unfortunately, the hunter was there," Rogers said. The hunter said the yearling was at the bait alone when he shot it.

Rogers said he understands the sadness of those posting on the Facebook page. "You can't work with an animal and not get to know them and their quirks. You have to be sensitive to them to gain their trust," he said, referring to his experience as a researcher. "You get close to them."

He also understands bears' scientific value. "We know how important these bears are for science, education and the region."

Rogers said he has lost six radio-collared bears since 2005.

Last year, 9,200 hunters had permits to hunt bear; 2,699 animals were taken.

[TRZ II]

I can't believe Lynn Rodgers in a MAN! I always just assumed from all the "sally" stories I heard that it was a woman. Well go figure.........These people who are totally anti-hunting are very ignorant and will never change. Lynn likes to study bears on his own time, I like to hunt them on my own time. In this great nation we can both do that as citizens, one is no different than the other in my opinion.

[TooTallTom]

For the record, although we do not want research bears killed, we do support hunting as a way to limit bears to the number people will accept as we try to expand acceptance through education.

But does he actually say that he's accepting of hunting bears? It seems to me that he says that hunting will work in the short term, until his group's efforts to educate the public about the "true" nature of bears bring acceptance to a level that will allow for hunting to no longer be necessary.

[Bear55]

But does he actually say that he's accepting of hunting bears? It seems to me that he says that hunting will work in the short term, until his group's efforts to educate the public about the "true" nature of bears bring acceptance to a level that will allow for hunting to no longer be necessary.

That is what it sounds like to me. They are also pretty good at creating all kinds of drama to fire up their troops = $$$ and then throw in something about the hunter being legal or some minor statment in support of hunting.

[picksbigwagon]

I have had a little insomnia the past two nights and this morning I started reading the posts on Lily's Facebook page. What I read was astounding but it was also a reality check and it should be a reality check to each and every one of us who enjoy hunting, fishing and trapping.

I read as people who commented and mentioned they were hunters get torched by people who I don't think have a firm sense of reality. These anti's exist every where, not just in townhomes or flats in the big cities. This has become a rallying point it seems for some to be as vile and threatening to those who they don't agree with or want to listen to a different person's perspective.

As outdoorsmen and women, we need to hold ourselves to a better standard than what the anti's can stoop to at times. The whole idea of being "anti" is to point out all of the alleged faults of others and to use any means possible. "redneck, idiots, inbreds" and a host of other terms are written in those posts. We can not stoop to that level. Education is our key, we need to present ourselves in the positive.

When you are out hunting, be respectful of the land and area you are hunting. If your hunting party yearly heads to the Muni and rips it up the night before or the first saturday night of deer camp, what message is that sending to others around you. I don't believe we need to hide our harvested animals, but tying them to a bumper is not acceptable either.

My opinion of Mr. Rogers and his organization is that while they are doing research, the use of social media is not scientific and as someone had posted before, research should not involve giving wild animals names nor hand feeding them either. I haven't read Jane Goodall's articles or watched her movies in a long time, but when I was growing up, rivetd to the screen as she researched the great apes, I don't remember her hand feeding them, ever.

I know I am preaching to the choir here, but this message is directed towards those anti browsers looking for more "ammo"

[TooTallTom]

...As outdoorsmen and women, we need to hold ourselves to a better standard...we need to present ourselves in the positive. When you are out hunting, be respectful of the land and area you are hunting...

This. I agree completely. But it's not just when we're hunting that we need to mind our p's and q's. Any time the topic comes up in conversation, consider yourself an ambassador. To put it in a way that most people understand: act like you're meeting your girlfriend or boyfriend's folks for the first time. Stick with the facts; be polite and respectful even (especially) if others are not. Keep in mind that having these conversations and reflecting positively on hunters and hunting in everyday life is the only way that we'll preserve hunting for future generations, constitutional amendment or not.

And don't worry about preaching to the choir, picksbigwagon, the choir's made up of sinners, too. We can all use a reminder from time to time.

[Musky Buck]

Like most everything in this country 5 years from now no one will remember or care, what happens to yesterdays newspaper, recycled or burned or used to line your garbage can, it's fresh so it gets face time now. Bear research they eat sleep have little ones and go number 1 and 2. Give me the millions. Maybe it got crushed on the road, stop all vehicles from nighttime driving north of HWY 10 or what. Time for them to go the eagle or loon route in schools with the webcam. It's so funny how they tippytoe around things, take those kids on a field trip to a slaughterhouse, but no it's too real, these bear cams are more fantasy than reality it seems. Priorities in this country are a train wreck.