Jane Goodall Joins Wyoming Protestors in Buying Up Grizzly Hunt Tickets

[Bob33]

Jane Goodall is a global icon, perhaps the most admired living environmentalist and legendary for her research with chimpanzees. Cynthia Moss is famous for her conservation work in eastern Africa battling elephant poachers and speaking out against trophy hunting.

Within the last few days, Goodall, 84, and Moss, 78, entered a lottery hoping to win a coveted hunting license in Wyoming allowing them to sport shoot a grizzly bear in the Yellowstone region. They have no aspirations to actually kill a bruin. Their maneuver is part of a mass act of civil disobedience to protest Wyoming’s controversial hunt of up to 22 grizzlies—the first in 44 years—slated to commence only weeks from now.

Called “Shoot ‘em With A Camera, Not A Gun,” the impromptu campaign, spearheaded mainly by women, has caught hunting officials in Wyoming off guard. It has also created a groundswell among those who condemn the state’s recommencement of a trophy season on grizzlies just a year after they were removed from federal protection. In May, Wyoming’s wildlife commission approved the hunt unanimously 7-0.

“People felt desperate, wanting to do something positive that could help keep these bears alive. I think we surprised ourselves at how much public support this has gotten in so little time,” says Jackson Hole conservationist Lisa Robertson.

Targeted Plan
The strategy of “Shoot ‘em With A Camera” is to swamp Wyoming’s random system for allocating bear licenses with applications from non-hunters. Should they be awarded a coveted tag, they’ll head into the mountains this fall to take pictures of grizzlies rather than stalking them with rifles.

Begun less than a week ago, “Shoot ‘em” has gone viral on social media. A final push is being made to enlist thousands of bear advocates to apply for a hunting license (https://wgfd.wyo.gov/apply-or-buy) before Monday’s deadline (July 16) at midnight mountain time.

The campaign grew out of a meeting of 19 concerned citizens (16 of them women) and then a group of five who floated the unconventional concept in an ad in the local Jackson Hole newspaper. Ann Smith provided her phone number to answer any questions and she braced for the worse.

“What stunned me is the number of positive calls I’ve received and 85 to 90 percent have come from women,” Smith says. Driving around Jackson Hole in a replica antique pick-up truck, the bed of Smith’s vehicle has a near life-sized stuffed teddy bear in it with a sign that reads “Grizzly Lives Matter.” “No one has called me up on the phone and yelled at me,” she said. I’ve received lots of affirmative horn honks and people giving me thumbs up.”

Brian Nesvik, chief game warden with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, is not so enamored. He acknowledged he was surprised at how fast the campaign mobilized, heightening a level of drama that was already unprecedented given that it involves the wildlife symbol of the Yellowstone region.

Thousands of hunters nationwide and plenty in his state, he said, are excited by the prospect of being able to take a grizzly, with the odds of securing a license still astronomically low. Now, with perhaps thousands of additional applications pouring in, it makes those chances even slimmer.

“This is more about taking away hunting opportunity than having an impact on our population management objective,” Nesvik said, noting that with 700 grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone region, Wyoming’s quota will not jeopardize the population.


https://relay-nationalgeographic-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/environment/2018/07/jane-goodall-joins-wyoming-grizzly-bear-hunt-protest-lottery?amp_js_v=0.1#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s

[grundy53]

We'll see how bad they want to save a grizzly when they have to pony up $6000 for the tag. But I'm glad they are raising money for Wyoming fish and game.

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[Jpmiller]

Interesting. I hope there's not alot of lost opportunity but I'm unclear how their quota system will work. Thankful they're dumping money in though.

[fishngamereaper]

Buying tickets in protest of hunting,  but pouring money into an agency that supports and manages hunting....ya makes sense. People are so stupid it makes me dummer thinking about them.

I can see this being the new norm though. Maybe they should require a state hunting license before applying. Make these "protesters" spend more time and money supporting a cause they don't support.

[baker5150]

Buying tickets in protest of hunting,  but pouring money into an agency that supports and manages hunting....ya makes sense. People are so stupid it makes me dummer thinking about them.

I can see this being the new norm though. Maybe they should require a state hunting license before applying. Make these "protesters" spend more time and money supporting a cause they don't support.

I'm surprised they are allowed to purchase without a hunter ed card.

I doubt the state cares, with the extra revenue it's generating.

[trophyhunt]

We'll see how bad they want to save a grizzly when they have to pony up $6000 for the tag. But I'm glad they are raising money for Wyoming fish and game.

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I would imagine the fish and game dept will draw back up winners, pretty easy to see if the winner has bought past hunting licenses.

[birddogdad]

We'll see how bad they want to save a grizzly when they have to pony up $6000 for the tag. But I'm glad they are raising money for Wyoming fish and game.

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I would imagine the fish and game dept will draw back up winners, pretty easy to see if the winner has bought past hunting licenses.

Fern lickers with money,  they will buy licenses if drawn. This aggressive assault by anti's happens all over. the only way to counter this is long-term availability. if this is a one off, the lickers win. if this becomes annual or sustained, then next year correction for harvest from previous year, reset of numbers ect will over the long haul dilute the impacts of these do gooders....no legislation to prevent this from occurring anywhere, any state for any special draws.... No one should be surprised, but lobbies to fix would most likely fail with the money this group can throw at it.   Wolf group has a toe hold and now working for more....

[lamrith]

Buying tickets in protest of hunting,  but pouring money into an agency that supports and manages hunting....ya makes sense. People are so stupid it makes me dummer thinking about them.

I can see this being the new norm though. Maybe they should require a state hunting license before applying. Make these "protesters" spend more time and money supporting a cause they don't support.

I'm surprised they are allowed to purchase without a hunter ed card.

I doubt the state cares, with the extra revenue it's generating.

?

Too bad they up there in age and do not have to pass a Hunter safety course to apply for the draw.  WY age cutoff for requiring Hunter's Ed is born before 1966.  Can you imagine either of them going thru a hunters ed course??
 

[kselkhunter]

It's good to see extra funding for WY department of fish and game.

They should take the money and hand out the tags.  Then after taking their money announce that any of the 22 tags that go unfilled, the department of fish and game will go cull a grizzly from that unit to meet reduction objectives.  That should help deter the protesters from doing it again next year, knowing they're just wasting their money.

And next year, WY can institute a special hunters ed course specific for the grizzly tag complete with firearm proficiency course, and other hurdles to make it more difficult to repeat the protest, etc.   
 

[tritt007]

I hope they don't start moving to Wyoming .......

[Stein]

I think it's great, hopefully a million other people join her in supporting the grizzlies.  The money is sorely needed to help game agencies.

[timberghost72]

It's good to see extra funding for WY department of fish and game.

They should take the money and hand out the tags.  Then after taking their money announce that any of the 22 tags that go unfilled, the department of fish and game will go cull a grizzly from that unit to meet reduction objectives.  That should help deter the protesters from doing it again next year, knowing they're just wasting their money.

And next year, WY can institute a special hunters ed course specific for the grizzly tag complete with firearm proficiency course, and other hurdles to make it more difficult to repeat the protest, etc.   
 

 
This was my exact thought also. It may take the opportunity away from a hunter in the short term but in the end the Grizzly will be killed by the state due to management. Sucks for the hunters if this does happen though.

[timberghost72]

How about every member on this site (or as many as possible) apply for the tag and put $1.00 in a Hunt-WA pot. Then if someone draws they get the pot to pay for the tag. If no one draws the pot can go to some wildlife non-profit organization. This will also lessen the chance that these protesters will draw. 

[Oh Mah]

I think it's great, hopefully a million other people join her in supporting the grizzlies.  The money is sorely needed to help game agencies.

It is a win win no matter how we look at it.As was stated already sell the tags 6k each.When they don't get filled next year up quota every year etc. fill the account of Wyoming fish and game.If only we didn't do that here with wolves (but for less than 6k)Make it about the cost of going out of state to hunt a wolf x3 we wouldn't have these money problems in WDFW.

[KFhunter]

They should sell left over tags on the cheap for any that didn't get filled.