Wildlife biologists remind the public that ‘a fed bear is a dead bear.’
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Missouri Department of
Conservation (MDC) confirms that a black bear was euthanized by local law
enforcement Sunday in Perryville. According to MDC Wildlife Regional Supervisor
Matt Bowyer, this was a situational call by local law enforcement.
MDC personnel were notified of sightings of the bear Friday,
but at that time the bear was not inside the city limits and was not causing
any disturbance. Sunday morning, the bear was reported moving through the town.
“This young male bear was likely looking for an easy food
source,” Bowyer said. “Unfortunately there can be things like trash and other
smelly items in town that might seem like food to a bear.”
MDC protocol when responding to nuisance bears usually begins
with harassment of the animal in efforts to encourage it to travel elsewhere. Harassment
means shooting it with rubber bullets and other techniques.
However, the situation evolved quickly as the bear moved
into more populated areas and normal protocol was not an option at that point.
“We can’t say that there was any other option for this bear
once he was in the center of town, near children and with no safe direction for
it to go,” Bowyer said.
Although chemical immobilization might seem like an alternative,
local MDC personnel don’t have immediate access to the equipment necessary to sedate
a bear.
“There’s a lot of logistics that go into sedating an
actively moving animal,” Bowyer said. “You have to have proper equipment and
you also have to do what’s right for the animal.”
According to MDC Resource Scientist Jeff Beringer, who heads
up the Missouri Bear Project, there is risk in tranquilizing a free roaming
bear.
“If a bear runs off after being tranquilized and you don’t
see where it goes it may die, it could drown, it could fall with its head downhill
and suffocate,” Beringer said. “Additionally, if you miss your shot at the bear
you risk losing a drug filled dart and that’s a bad situation.”
Furthermore, sedation takes time to take effect on an
animal, which means aggravating an animal that is already stressed.
Beringer and Bowyer agree the lesson to take from this
encounter is for everyone to do their part to keep bears wild by ensuring that
trash, dog food, bird food and other possible food sources are put where bears
can’t gain access to them.
“Bears are quick learners and they’ll return time and time
again if they’ve been trained on where to find a treat,” Beringer said. “Then
before too long we’re called in to deter the bear when it’s become a problem.”
Bowyer said this bear story shouldn’t cause people to be
afraid of bears.
“Bears are generally secretive animals,” Bowyer said. “This
one just happened to be in the wrong place and got himself into a situation he
couldn’t get out of.”
For
more information on how to keep bears wild, go online to http://mdc.mo.gov/node/30884.
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