Thanks Judy jkr for your response... I agree about Hope and trust in humans .. but doesn't that go hand in hand with the research program.. it is confusing for me ..
OMG! I was listening to the news here and there is some discussion about a deer cull.. we humans are not doing wild life any favors when we feed them ...

First of all Elle, I do not know where I personally see this going. I think that will become clear as it evolves.

Secondly, Bev, I think spray painting Hope was dismissed as making them an object of ridicule, but honestly, it seems they already make fun of the Bear Center for caring. It could have saved her and should probably have been discussed instead of relying on her being with Lily and Faith to identify her. The only thing I am unsure of is whether the DNR did not allow it which then leaves no choice to just trust and hope.

Third, the bait being right by the feeding station was unfair. She trusted.

My objection is hunting for hunting's sake. I.E. for fun. Imagine as you are driving and someone cuts you off just because they can and they seem to think their right to the road is bigger than yours. It is largely the same although a reach. We have become an unkind people. We need to think of others and in this case it is the others who followed Hope with love and curiosity. Their rights were totally taken away. That is wrong.

carolyn

I believe the answer to the suggestion to spray paint Hope was dismissed because it went too far with hunter harassment and hunters rights. The researchers walk a fine line and are always at risk to lose their licence. But I don't know why they just didn't try again with the collar or a tag of some sort. Is it because the hunting season had already begun? As it has been pointed out, the hunters can still legally kill the collared bears. Last year one did. I did not know until after Hope died that there were feeding stations for them and I did not know the hunters used baiting stations either. jkr, you say it is illegal here? I understand the likelihood of wounding and protracted suffering is far greater with a fair game chase and that is the mindset with baiting. A quick clean kill with miminal suffering. But I think if it is necessary to cull every year then the weak , old and sick should be selected and euthanised and end of story. No hunting. That is how predation works in the wild.
I agree Bev: . I think there needs to be a rethink about better protection for the bears. Someone on another thread said the wolves in Algonquin Park are in a protected area and no hunting is allowed in that area. Why can't that be done for Lily and the other bears? There is still 16 days left in the hunting season.
Carolyn: That's the thing. The sentience of all creatures. Why do we have a right to take their life? Some of the hunters are killing mothers with cubs and the cubs are then orphaned and starve. Some of those mothers may also be pregnant. I don't think this should be allowed. Now that it is hunting season other creatures are being targetted too, like eagles. Yahoos with guns will shoot at anything.

Hunting animals by baiting them is totally wrong. It used to be illegal and should still be so. Hunting is a process of using your skills (at least hunters like to think they have skills) to find a quarry and the reward of success. If a person uses bait, especially in an area that bears are used to being fed, it involves no skill, real or pretended, and there is no reward other than the wanton destruction of a helpless creature. There's no glory in that, the hunter only earns shame.

If the DNR don't restrict hunting in the area that researchers have tamed and fed game animals they should not allow the taming and feeding of them. IMO, once the natural habits and instincts of the game animal have been allowed to be altered, the DNR owes those animals their protection, for they have allowed the animals to have been made vulnerable.

Look, hunters are hunters, some good and some not so good... that's how people are. They have a right to hunt, no matter what we might think about it. From experience I would not allow my dog to go into the woods during hunting season (dogs aren't even safe in their front yard), and were I a farmer I would be real concerned for the safety of my stock. Only a blooming fool would tame a wild game animal, teach it to expect food from humans, and then allow it to roam free in the forest during hunting season. The outcome was predictable, and if Hope could not be protected she should never have been turned into a web cam star.

You've heard of dumb, dumber and dumbest... well, that describes the hunter, the DNR and Rogers.

That being said... hi everyone

jkr: I read about the deer cull in Cranbrook. It is becoming a real problem here in Victoria, too. Now there are cougar sightings every few days it seems and of course it is the cougars who are being shot. It is horrifying.

Grizz: Oh dear. I am learning a whole lot more about this from you. What can we do to get the DNR protection the bears need? Why wasn't this done at the beginning? I am really trying to be careful what I say but...........................come on.

elle, here is the hunting regulations for B.C and notice that #2 and #3 are very different from what we just witnessed happening in Minnesota.

BLACK BEAR HUNTING REGULATIONS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Many of the general restrictions employed in the management of grizzly bears also apply to black bears.

1. Regulated spring and fall hunting seasons and bag limits.

2. Cubs and yearlings, and females with cubs
or yearlings are protected

3. No baiting is allowed.

4. No hunting in national parks and ecological reserves and some provincial parks.

5. No trade in bear parts.

6. Non-residents must contract the services of a licensed guide-outfitter.

7. Annual Hunter Sample and Guide-outfitter Returns

8. There is no open season on any kermode (white) or glacier (blue) bears.

9. Hunters are required to meet the CORE requirements

10. Hunters are required to obtain the appropriate licenses.

http://www.bearsinbc.com/pages/01black/ ... tions.html

What I am getting so far in this learning expedition is:

I like BC's regulations.

Grizzly you are a delight. Keep speaking. Particularly I agree with the last part of Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest. It seems they need to totally rethink this and protect the collared bears truly, not just tip toe around the hunter through the tulips. The hunting will go on and the hunting lobby is strong, stronger than the voices of folks from over the world. Your avatar is great by the way.

carolyn

Thanks jkr: Our Canadian regulations are far better than in the U.S. it seems.

Carolyn: I am learning too. I know very little about hunting except that I hate it. But we all tend to qualify life and therefore think it may be okay to shoot rabbits or deer but not bears or moose or elks, for example.

So Grizz: being a local Minnesotan and an ex-hunter and a no nonsense outspoken individual, can you provide any insight into what ordinary citizens can do to lobby to get the rules changed ? It seems obvious it can't come from the researchers. Knowledge is a wonderful thing and changes minds and I have to say what I have learned of late more than somewhat changes my mind about the status quo. We are not supposed to express anger at any particular people , just at the event, but........ I wrote somewhere else that not since Winnie the bear who inspired the Winnie the Pooh books has a bear been more well known than Hope. And I agree since Hope was made world famous and in retrospect to current events that we all seem to think could have been avoided or at least handled better, she should have been better protected, but then again, none of the research bears are protected. They can be collared to make them easily identifiable, but they can still all be legally shot.

P.S. to add. It has become so apparent to me lately how many times we use the word " hope" in everyday conversation.