http://www.cougarfund.org/will-yellowstone-be-safer-if-this-bear-is-killed/
Agonizing, there is no other word to describe the decisions that must be made at the highest level in Yellowstone National Park. Authorities are doing everything they can to be sure they correctly identify the bear that killed a hiker. Superintendent Dan Wenk has already said the female grizzly trapped in the area where Lance Crosby’s body was found will be euthanized if there is irrefutable evidence that she is the culprit. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Mr. Crosby and also to the dedicated park staff who responded to the scene and must now investigate and make those hard decisions. There are so many layers of consideration-it is never simple. However, there is one question that we would like to be part of the deliberations and that is for the authorities to think very deeply about what they hope to achieve as far as public perception if they decide to kill the bear and her cubs. Will removing the bear actually make people who recreate in Yellowstone National Park safer? There is a frightening possibility that killing this female will simply give visitors a false sense of security that the ‘man-eating’ grizzly is gone. This could lead to complacency where visitors or seasonal employees may not follow the recommendations to carry bear spray, hike in groups and be vigilant for the creatures that live there. Yellowstone National Park-indeed the whole
Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, All Rights Reserved
Yellowstone Ecosystem-is now home to many hundreds of grizzly bears. They are large, powerful and supremely protective animals and any or every one of them has the capacity to make an encounter fatal to a human. Is there a way that Superintendent Wenk and his staff, together with the interagency team that is responsible for grizzly bears, can either spare the bear involved in the death of Mr Crosby, or ensure that the message gets out that Yellowstone is still not a place to take lightly if they do remove this specific animal? Fear can be a great motivator, it can also be numbing and allow people to ignore what is presented to them. Every park trail in Yellowstone and Grand Teton and many area forests has a “Bear Attack” sign warning people of precautions such as bear spray and group hiking before they set off on the trail. Would it make a difference to add that there HAVE been deaths in the ecosystem and the bears involved remain there? This is harsh, but it is reality. We must regard every large carnivore as having the capacity to kill-this is the only attitude that will keep us and them as safe as possible as we share our ever decreasing wild environment. http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/08/us/yellowstone-grizzly-bear-attack-hiker-dead-feat/index.html
Exposing the Big Game 
This is a rhetorical question, right? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Humans could murder ALL the wildlife in the park (which eventually they probably will) , and someone would slide on the grass and blame the plantlife!!!!
That’s another reason why ignorant arrogant speciesist homo sapiens cannot…no, should not be allowed to have “nice things.”!!
I’m too angry and sad about this whole thing to write maturely right now!
No. Stupid people will still roam freely and get into trouble, and from what I have seen, the Park doesn’t really enforce the rules. I have complained and was told by a ranger “I was not on my turf here”. I don’t think this is the case with the poor gentleman though, his was an unfortunate accident. There will be another animal that loses patience with our stupidity, and another one will have to be destroyed because people are incapable of learning, no matter how many signs or how often they are told, to keep to the rules. People don’t feel rules should impede them. I’m very upset by this also, because I know it is just something to placate.
The person I complained about was a guy who ran up to an elk with his camera, and judging by the grin on his face, seemed to have gotten a thrill because he was able to do it without getting his ass kicked by the elk. If he had, the elk probably would have been ‘euthanized’. A grown man, not a child. Just like the guy taking YouTube videos of an elk butting him with his antlers, whose encouragement of this behavior caused the elk to have to be ‘euthanized’. The idiot claimed to have no regrets about it, either! I’m really sick of this. I complained because the guy was the absolute last straw; I had been seeing all kinds of bad behavior all day, and it really ruins the experience for others. You really have to feel sorry for the animals. My heart goes out to them.
Killing the grizzly will do no good. It looks almost like punishment for a bear who was doing what bears sometimes do. There will always be careless people (not saying that the man this time was because I don’t know). Once this episode is forgotten, like maybe tomorrow, people will return to the park. There will still be other bears and other possible attacks. Do we really want to kill all the bears to make even the irresponsible people feel safer? Once we kill the bears, then the bison? Once the bison are gone, then the cougars? What if people encounter into a rabid raccoon? At least 20 people have died falling into the geothermal springs in Yellowstone. Should we put a lid on them? Yes, this is getting into the absurd, but the point is that no one can be completely safe everywhere and all the time. Wildlife should have their place on this earth and be left alone. If the parks must be shared, people should assume the risks posed by the wild inhabitants.
Hiking in grizzly country is inherently risky and most hikers knowingly take that risk. Hiking in the wilderness is also encroachment and when a human surprises a grizzly and her cub it is encroachment. The bears were probably behaving normally even in the killing and caching. The “experienced” hiker had no bear spray, was hiking alone, and was assuming inherent risks, and encroaching. Should the “guilty” bear(s) be killed? In my view, no. Park officials may be in CYA mode and that is understandable, but defensible? Bears mostly deserve a “humanitarian” award for tolerating the millions who visit the Park yet have injured only 47 and killed only 7 in the Park’s history. They really deserve a “humanitarian” award. Unfortunate tragedy for the man and the bear(s). No, killing this bear and cubs will not make YNP safer. What it will do for PR is a conflicted argument.
I would rather go in a place that I loved, rather than at random, by a heavily armed nut in a movie theater or just walking down the street. We obsessively control animals and worry about the dangers ‘they’ pose to us; but we are the ones out of control. Guns are more dangerous than grizzlies; and that doesn’t stop the proliferation of guns – but we worry about reintroducing grizzlies! How many people die by guns, daily, even hourly, now?
I seem to recall that there were warnings posted where grizzlies had been seen. Instead of the Park waiting for an accident to happen, and then ‘euthanizing’ the animals and making them appear unvalued and expendable, why not close the trails to the public where they have been seen, where possible? It’s hopeless to try to educate people to keep away.
Reblogged this on GarryRogers Nature Conservation and Science Fiction (#EcoSciFi) and commented:
With over half of all animals on Earth gone now, it’s time to carefully consider every act that will reduce them further. The time when casual killing of animals for human convenience had no impact on the vast numbers of wild creatures out there is long past.
Yes, I was reading where grizzlies reproduce at a very low rate, which is what has made them evolve to be hypervigilant about protecting their young. How is killing them going to ensure their survival into the future? This is a place where wild animals live; killing them off for every perceived infraction of our rules seems to be antithetical to that, especially since we do not know what the circumstances are that led up to it.
The only way to ensure human safety absolutely is to remove all the wildlife, or cage them. Do we really want a place like that? I do have sympathy for this poor man; but the way this is being handled is upsetting. We’re not talking about a policeman who doesn’t know any better killing mountain lions in a suburb of LA in what he sees as protecting the public; we’re talking about a place that has been set aside for wilderness and for wildlife to live. I wonder if the new management direction just sees it as an insurance risk.
Now here’s something interesting, like Cecil, this bear had a name and was a park favorite. For some reason, none of this has come out in the press? There are plans for delisting grizzlies and of course, we know that some of the outfitters have been quite vocal about their wish to start shooting. Why hasn’t any of this been reported? Read it and weep:
http://www.dougpeacock.net/blog/categories/listings/murder-in-yellowstone-grizzly-family-is-sacrificed-for-fear-of-litigation.html
Here’s some more info on her:
http://ghostbearphotography.com/tragedy-not-travesty-urgent-help-needed-to-save-yellowstones-famed-grizzly-blaze/
I honestly don’t know how you keep 3.5 million visitors safe. I think too many people are being pushed through the park for $$$. I agree with this post that you can’t keep killing animals if the root cause isn’t being addressed. That means no ‘personal choice’ for carrying bear spray, that it be required, and being stricter about safety measures.
I think we were wondering on one of these blogs about the bear, what “euthanasia” would mean in her case and that of her cubs. There is a detailed discussion of the Wapiti sow, “A Death In Yellowstone” in the site below. For her, “euthanasia” meant being shot in the head with a captive deadbolt gun (presumably after a Telazol injection). So the bear was kindly (euthanasia = good death!) killed as cows are in slaughter houses. If that is the same practice at Yellowstone currently, I do not know.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/death_in_yellowstone/2012/04/grizzly_bear_attacks_how_wildlife_investigators_found_a_killer_grizzly_in_yellowstone_.single.html
Interesting how a lethal injection is considered by some to be cruel and unusual punishment for serial killers but animals, who are not capable of malicious intent in the case of wild animals, or who have not harmed at all, in the case of cows, pigs, and chickens, can die in terrible ways. Even more revealing is that we don’t even see the injustice.
Oh good Lord. Well, I’m mentally prepared for the inevitable, despite the lies we have been told. I’m sorry for the bears. I will never set foot into this dump again. Cheetos indeed.