Post by: BIGINNER on September 28, 2011, 07:39:56 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota black bear who became a worldwide star when her birth was broadcast over the Internet is presumed dead after a hunter came forward to report that he had shot the animal without knowing it was her, a researcher said Tuesday.
Researchers last saw the yearling bear named Hope on Sept. 14. Lynn Rogers, senior researcher at the North American Bear Center and its affiliated Wildlife Research Institute in Ely, said he was contacted Tuesday by a hunter who said he killed the bear when it came to his bait station alone on the evening Sept 16.
The hunter told Rogers he would not have deliberately shot Hope and didn't know she was the same bear. However, Rogers said the hunter also did not express remorse.
Rogers said he's confident the bear was Hope because every other female bear known to be in that area near Ely in northeastern Minnesota where Hope and her family roamed has been accounted for, including Hope's radio-collared mother, Lily, who at one point bedded down just 165 yards away from the bait site. Hope was not collared or otherwise marked or tagged.
Rogers declined to give the name of the hunter. He said he's discouraging verbal attacks on him and hunters in general because that won't help his center's research and education efforts. But he acknowledged that feelings have been running high since the center put out word a few days ago on Facebook that Hope was missing and likely dead.
"I've gotten calls today from several people who could hardly talk through their tears, but there's also a lot of anger. It's a highly emotional item for the Lily fans. We're just trying to figure out where we go from here. And we want to protect the hunter," Rogers said.
Lily and Hope became an Internet sensation two winters ago when the center installed a camera inside Lily's den and thousands of people watched live as she gave birth to Hope. Students at over 500 schools have been following Hope, Lily, and Lily's new cub, Faith, on the bear center's website and Facebook, Rogers said. Lily's Facebook page has about 134,000 fans.
"This is probably the most famous bear in the world," Rogers said of Hope. "... It lived for 602 days and during that time it changed a lot of lives. Hope changed a lot of lives. It drew people together."
The center's announcement on its "Lily the Black Bear" Facebook page Tuesday afternoon that the hunter had come forward generated hundreds of comments within hours. Many visitors wrote that they were devastated, but grateful for how Hope and Lily's story had touched their lives. Many posts also blasted the hunter, but a few defended him and echoed Rogers' call to leave him alone.
The researcher also said it turned out that the hunter was never a member of a Facebook page called "Lily: a bear with a bounty" and never wrote messages there. Rogers on Monday had expressed suspicion that the hunter was a poster there.
Rogers reiterated that he's not against all bear hunting, pointing out that he helped write Minnesota's bear hunting regulations. Those rules allow hunters to set out bait stations, a practice that many of Lily and Hope's fans have condemned as unsportsmanlike. Rogers defends baiting, however, saying it gives hunters a better chance at a clean, humane shot, and reduces the overall number of bears killed because fewer are wounded by bad shots only to die later in the woods, unfound and unrecorded.
He also noted that the hunter's actions were perfectly legal, though Rogers said he wishes people wouldn't shoot his research bears.
"It's just one more instance of us being in the middle of a groundbreaking data set and having it cut short by a hunter killing a critical bear," Rogers lamented.
Post by: BIGINNER on September 28, 2011, 07:41:51 AM
they beleive that hunters should be executed,... yet they beleive abortion is alright because "a fetus is an extension of your body just like a pimple" :dunno: :bdid: :bash: :bash:
Post by: MuleyorBust on September 28, 2011, 07:53:14 AM
Post by: one-eyed Ross on September 28, 2011, 08:33:47 AM
Put a collar on and let us know what it is....how hard would that have been.
Post by: pianoman9701 on September 28, 2011, 08:38:13 AM
Post by: 724wd on September 28, 2011, 08:39:58 AM
I like Rogers final comment on how he wishes that hunters wouldn't kill his research bears... well then maybe it should have been tagged or collared to let people know it was a research bear rather than just another bear in the woods... dumba$$
tagged and collared bears ARE just another bear in the woods. they are legal game animals. now his research can show that hunters are another cause of mortality in bears.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,84023.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,84023.0.html)
Post by: shanevg on September 28, 2011, 08:52:04 AM
Post by: Tacomahunter on September 28, 2011, 09:23:39 AM
these people are wackjobs!!! read some of the comments.....
they beleive that hunters should be executed,... yet they beleive abortion is alright because "a fetus is an extension of your body just like a pimple" :dunno: :bdid: :bash: :bash:
WTF!!! It just makes me laugh :bash:
Post by: FC on September 28, 2011, 10:13:04 AM
these people are wackjobs!!! read some of the comments.....
they beleive that hunters should be executed,... yet they beleive abortion is alright because "a fetus is an extension of your body just like a pimple" :dunno: :bdid: :bash: :bash:
Some serious kooks in the comments alright..
Post by: JimmyHoffa on September 28, 2011, 10:29:50 AM
Oh, I'm doing research on elk for the next few decades....so please don't shoot my research animals. Research area is Western WA. :)
Post by: magnanimous_j on September 28, 2011, 10:37:09 AM
It reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago, I have no idea if it's true or just an Urban Legend, but it went something like this:
In some coastal town in Washington or Alaska, an injured seal is found on the beach and the locals decide to nurse it back to health. It becomes the mascot of the town and the school kids name it Slappy, because of the way he slaps at the water with his fins.
Months go by and the vet decides that Slappy is ready to return to the wild. The whole town shows up to see him off, with banners and tshirts and the high school band playing.
Slappy swims a hundred yards off shore, and in full view of the entire elementary school, is violently torn to shreds by an Orca Whale.
Post by: BIGINNER on September 28, 2011, 10:40:01 AM
Is it wrong that I find this story kind of funny?
It reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago, I have no idea if it's true or just an Urban Legend, but it went something like this:
In some coastal town in Washington or Alaska, an injured seal is found on the beach and the locals decide to nurse it back to health. It becomes the mascot of the town and the school kids name it Slappy, because of the way he slaps at the water with his fins.
Months go by and the vet decides that Slappy is ready to return to the wild. The whole town shows up to see him off, with banners and tshirts and the high school band playing.
Slappy swims a hundred yards off shore, and in full view of the entire elementary school, is violently torn to shreds by an Orca Whale.
:chuckle: sucks to get attached to wildlife lake that. :chuckle:
DAMN NATURE,.. YOU CRAZY!!! :chuckle:
Post by: pianoman9701 on September 28, 2011, 10:41:24 AM
Is it wrong that I find this story kind of funny?
It reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago, I have no idea if it's true or just an Urban Legend, but it went something like this:
In some coastal town in Washington or Alaska, an injured seal is found on the beach and the locals decide to nurse it back to health. It becomes the mascot of the town and the school kids name it Slappy, because of the way he slaps at the water with his fins.
Months go by and the vet decides that Slappy is ready to return to the wild. The whole town shows up to see him off, with banners and tshirts and the high school band playing.
Slappy swims a hundred yards off shore, and in full view of the entire elementary school, is violently torn to shreds by an Orca Whale.
Not wrong. I rooted for the hunter in Bambi. I love the comments of the whackos on this. It's very satisfying seeing them come apart over an animal that should've been tagged or marked. There will be a movie and people will cry.
Post by: pianoman9701 on September 28, 2011, 10:42:22 AM
Post by: Machias on September 28, 2011, 10:54:38 AM
Post by: grizzlyadams on September 28, 2011, 11:16:19 AM
Post by: b.roberts on September 28, 2011, 03:51:13 PM
Post by: Bob Williams on September 28, 2011, 06:15:41 PM
Post by: Bob Williams on September 28, 2011, 06:26:35 PM
Just sayin..Its a sore subject from some, let them deal with it the best way they feel fit and not throw gasoline on the smoldering ambers.
Post by: TONTO on September 28, 2011, 06:32:14 PM
Is it wrong that I find this story kind of funny?
It reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago, I have no idea if it's true or just an Urban Legend, but it went something like this:
In some coastal town in Washington or Alaska, an injured seal is found on the beach and the locals decide to nurse it back to health. It becomes the mascot of the town and the school kids name it Slappy, because of the way he slaps at the water with his fins.
Months go by and the vet decides that Slappy is ready to return to the wild. The whole town shows up to see him off, with banners and tshirts and the high school band playing.
Slappy swims a hundred yards off shore, and in full view of the entire elementary school, is violently torn to shreds by an Orca Whale.
Happened down in Fla. a few years ago. The bleading hearts resuced a porpoise, and after rehabing it and then releasing with all kinds of fan fare, it was shreaded by tiger sharks in view of the beach.
Post by: dreamunelk on September 28, 2011, 07:07:43 PM
From the scientific end. Yes, not wanting to shoot marked bears would definitely bias most studies.
Post by: Arteman on September 29, 2011, 11:58:04 AM
Post by: Machias on September 29, 2011, 03:47:42 PM
the people who would say such harsh things about hunter's in general are mis-guided at best, not informed and don't understand the value system of the hunter population. Those are clear issues "they have to deal with" But in truth I'm not sure how much, if any, we are helping ourselves here in building a positive image that re-enforces who we are as people, as hunter's as conservationist's and stewards of the land and all the critter's in it.
Just sayin..Its a sore subject from some, let them deal with it the best way they feel fit and not throw gasoline on the smoldering ambers.
I happen to agree with you. No snese poking these lunatics in the eye with a pointy stick. I saw some responses that were funny but in bad taste where they were posted.
Post by: jmoyer2 on September 29, 2011, 04:28:45 PM
Is it wrong that I find this story kind of funny?
It reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago, I have no idea if it's true or just an Urban Legend, but it went something like this:
In some coastal town in Washington or Alaska, an injured seal is found on the beach and the locals decide to nurse it back to health. It becomes the mascot of the town and the school kids name it Slappy, because of the way he slaps at the water with his fins.
Months go by and the vet decides that Slappy is ready to return to the wild. The whole town shows up to see him off, with banners and tshirts and the high school band playing.
Slappy swims a hundred yards off shore, and in full view of the entire elementary school, is violently torn to shreds by an Orca Whale.
That's great :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: Armadillo on September 29, 2011, 05:03:59 PM