Poor bear, there had to be a better way

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Minn. officers shoot bear with jar stuck on head

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota wildlife officials tried for six days to capture a bear that had a plastic jar stuck over its head, but ended up killing the animal after it wandered into a city during a festival.

The wild black bear — whose head got stuck inside a 2 1/2-gallon clear plastic jug presumably while foraging for food — ambled into the city of Frazee, about 200 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, during the town's busy Turkey Days celebration.

"When it got into town, our main concern was public safety," said Rob Naplin, the Department of Natural Resources' area wildlife supervisor in Park Rapids.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25932826/&GT1=43001
 
That is so sad ... I think black bears are one of the most beautiful animals.

Wonder why they didn't tranquilize it, they said they were trying for six days, surely that would have given them enough time to find something to use on it
 
I read this on Fox and knew there would be a thread it. This really upset me. If it was dehydrated and hungry, wouldn't it have been weakened enough to "catch" some way? Someone needed to try harder.
 
That's exactly what I thought! It's not like he could bite and being tired and thirsty he was probably an easy target. I feel so bad.
 
I dont see how the bear could have been a "threat to public safety" with a bucket on its head anyway! They surely could have found a better way...they manage it with lions and all sorts of other animals and they could have done so with this bear. The poor thing was probably too hungry and fed up of the thing stuck on its head to be a danger to anyone:(
 
This makes me really angry. I can only imagine the terror of this poor hungry, dehydrated creature. Had they never heard of a tranquiliser gun?
 
Exactly kiki.....it seems they just took the "easy" option. This poor bear was tormented enough going so many days with that thing stuck on its head. It must have been terrified:(
 
That poor bear. I also can't understand why they didn't just tranquilize him:mad:
 
The poor thing needed help, but instead of taking patience and putting more effort into getting it tranquilized, they kill it. Us humans can be such disgusting creatures, at times...
 
In our paper over here there is a bigger picture of the bear with this thing stuck on its head. I really just dont see after looking at this HOW this bear could have been a danger to anyone.:(

 
Those "wildlife" "conservation" officers are a pity. I don't understand why they didn't just tranq the poor thing. Of course they'll kill it if they shoot it in the head. The jar was on the head. Pathetic officers!!
 
Poor bear. The "officials" really could have done a lot more for this animal.
 
In our paper over here there is a bigger picture of the bear with this thing stuck on its head. I really just dont see after looking at this HOW this bear could have been a danger to anyone.:(



Well, I guess he still has his claws, but come on! They could have tranq'ed it! Sheesh!
 
Here's the latest on this. I think it's sad they didn't make more of an effort to save this bear, but he was probably near death from dehydration and after that length of time without water, I doubt he would have survived. Still...my gut instinct tells me they could have tried harder.


"The shooting of a bear by a police officer in Frazee, Minn., Saturday unleashed a barrage of public criticism so intense the police chief referred one hostile e-mail to the city attorney for possible charges"...

And

"“It always seems odd to me that, after the fact, people make a judgment that maybe he (the officer) was premature shooting the bear,” Garshelis said.
“Had he not shot the bear and some kid wandered over with an ice cream cone … everybody would have been all over the police,” said Garshelis, who added he had been monitoring reports in hopes of darting the bear while it still wandered northern Minnesota"...


http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/209966
 
You guys need to look at the big picture. Risk Vs. benefit ect. Six days worth of resources on trying to capture this bear. Where do you draw the line? Bears are incredibly intelligent, this animal would've associated humans with food for the rest of it's life, and almost certainly would've become a "problem bear". As far as not being a danger because of a jar on it's head, get real, that wild animal is so strong and fast it could kill a 250lb man in 10 seconds, restrained or not, esp. in such an agitated state. Those ECO officers have built thier career around wildlife conservation, and I'm sure felt terrible about shooting it. But really, they had no choice. According to the article they have a baiting season prior to hunting season in Minn. This more than likely means there is great concern about the bear (over)population in the area. While it may make you feel warm and fuzzy to grieve for that one individual bear, (and why not, it's pretty sad) we really need to concentrate on maintaining sustainable habitat and food sources that can support a healthy population.
 

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