Lake Tahoe Bears Under Fire
PRESS RELEASE
Press Contact: Catherine Burt, Correspondent, Friends of Animals
CARSON CITY AND LAKE TAHOE AREA, NEVADA
The black bears of Nevada’s Lake Tahoe area need you.
American black bears are the only bears indigenous to Nevada. And with fewer than 300 black bears gracing the state of Nevada, the Board of Wildlife Commissioners has nonetheless launched the state’s first hunt against them, slated to begin in August 2011. This hunt must be stopped, and the Wildlife Commissioners must be held to standards of safety, ecological awareness, and ethics.
The Wildlife Commission does not rely upon any scientific reason for the hunt. Rather, they feel the bear population can withstand the killing of twenty of its members.
The members and supporters of Friends of Animals know that no animal withstands being hunted and killed. Any bear killed by humans is a loss not only to themselves and their own families, but to the entire ecosystem. The presence of bears is vital to the health of the complex habitat in which they live. As omnivores, predators, and scavengers, bears are important seed dispersers. They play a critical role in maintaining healthy, balanced populations of deer, insects, and others.
Friends of Animals Correspondent and activist Catherine Burt denounces the hunt as an extreme form of human aggression and conceit. “Turning wild animals into macabre trophies for a few thrill-seekers deprives an entire bio-community,” says Burt. “Nature does not have spare bears — it has to compensate in some way for the each one that is artificially removed.”
The Nevada hunt has been granted to appease a small segment of the population. Most of this board, including its Chair and Vice Chair, represent hunting and animal use interests and say so.
Forty-five tags are to be issued to kill 20 black bears, by bow and arrow or firearms. If allowed to proceed, the hunt would permit the use of dogs to track down and flush out hibernating animals. Since the hunt limits the killing of female bears, dogs would be made to chase bears into trees, so the sex of bears can be examined.
While the hunt prohibits the killing of female bears with cubs, mother bears and cubs terrorized during a hunt can become separated. The young are then left abandoned or orphaned to fend for themselves. Lacking adequate rearing, they may not survive. Those who do are more likely to come into conflict with humans, as they seek out easy food sources provided in suburban environments.
All told, this hunt puts bears, dogs, and humans at risk — for the misguided glee of a handful of trophy hunters.
Support the right to arm Nevada’s bears
Arm the bears with your energy and sanity.
Contact Nevada’s Governor Sandoval:
Phone: 775-684-5670
Fax: 775-684-5683
State your opposition to any tormenting or slaughter of bears in Nevada. This is especially important for Nevada residents, but out-of-state and international supporters can boycott Lake Tahoe tourism.
For more information, see the minutes of the 3 December 2010 Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners’ Meeting in which Commissioners planned the bear-killing.
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Friends of Animals, a 501©(3) not-for-profit corporation founded in 1957, with offices in the U.S. and Canada, advocates for the interests of animals to live in habitat on their own terms.
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15 Comments
On June 23, 2011, Morrigan Black wrote:
Why all of a sudden does everybody that has the slightest power kill everything that has never bothered anything? What is it with this sudden Blood Lust? Is there a Virus going around that makes people want to kill something? Well there are times I want to kill something too - but it’s not an animal - I am lost with all these attempts to wipe out whole species.
On June 23, 2011, Joan C. Lenihan wrote:
I have a suggestion. Why not fine people who do not put their garbage in “bear proof” containers instead of victimizing the bears. This is what attracts bears to recreation areas and communities-free lunch! The state could raise money and both people and bears could be safe.
On June 23, 2011, Sandy Zelasko wrote:
Leave the bears alone! It is a magical moment when you get to see a wild animal in its environment. What do humans have to control everything?
On June 23, 2011, Elsie wrote:
I agree with Morrigan Black:
“Why all of a sudden does everybody that has the slightest power kill everything that has never bothered anything? What is it with this sudden Blood Lust? Is there a Virus going around that makes people want to kill something? Well there are times I want to kill something too - but it’s not an animal - I am lost with all these attempts to wipe out whole species.”
On June 23, 2011, Elaine Aronoff wrote:
My husband and I have lived among black bears for many years, and we consider ourselves honored whenever we see one of these beautiful animals. When we first moved into our community, the Department of Environmental Conservation called a meeting of all residents to educate us about the privilege of coexisting with wild bears and how to protect them - what to do and what not to do.
Hunting a bear is a violation of fundamental ethical standards.
On June 23, 2011, PJ Ridley wrote:
Must we kill every animal, plant, and insect on the planet? There are only 300 left in Nevada and you want to kill 20 of them … why not all … sounds like something Sarah Palin would come up with. So what are a few bears more or less … it’s “the thrill of the hunt” or do you just need a stuffed head or rug for your office? How cruel and barbaric to even consider this. Too bad the bears don’t have the same advantage of a bow and arrow or a rifle to level the playing field. The terror inflicted on these animals and their cubs is beyond comprehension. I hope you mighty hunters are proud of yourselves.
On June 23, 2011, Frances wrote:
I see absolutely no reason why the state of Nevada has suddenly decided to have a bear hunt when the bears haven’t been bothering anyone. If the bears are frequenting garbage cans, then people are responsible for the bears’ behavior - the people must secure their garbage and this is only common sense. The loss of one wild animal due to a human being hunting it affects the entire world - one less animal for us to appreciate in its habitat. Protect the bears! We did not inherit this Earth from our parents, we are borrowing it from our children!
On June 23, 2011, Marjorie Hass wrote:
This world belongs to the bears, also. Please leave them alone. People need to use bear-proof trash containers, not kill bears.
On June 24, 2011, Pam Olson wrote:
I DON’T WANT MY TAX DOLLARS GOING TOWARDS THE MURDER OF OUR WILDLIFE WHO BELONG THERE. WE DON’T.
On June 25, 2011, Sandra McGee wrote:
With fewer than 300 - you have to be kidding me that you want to hunt 20/25 of them? I thought that we live in a country that respects our wildlife & preserves it, not decimates it.
300 - really now. I’d be embarrassed if I were Nevada.
On June 25, 2011, Zee Kallah wrote:
What tragedy is this!
On June 25, 2011, KJ Linarez wrote:
The management of a population of wild animals that is already struggling to survive by hunting them has nothing to do with the management of the bears and everything to do with appeasing people.
On June 29, 2011, Denise LaChance wrote:
Boycotting Nevada
On August 9, 2011, Kathy wrote:
What is wrong with humans today ? Do you not think that these Bears were put on this Earth for a reason, and they were here way before us. Are we that selfish to take away what is there in the first place ? Are we that mad in this world to take it out on a Bear? Do we all think for one moment this is called hard up for shooting a bear? Are you that hard up? That mad to take it out on a Bear? Has that Bear done wrong to you? Has he harmed you. Has he brought you this far to take a gun and aim and shoot and see those Beautiful Bears spurt out Blood to you? Is that what you really want to see? After you kill a Bear do you look into there eyes and say why did I do that? Do you have a Heart for what God has put on this Earth? Do you really care? Can you say you can look at a mom with her cubs and shoot her forgetting or thinking it was a male. Are you really going to make a mistake to kill? Ask yourself questions before you aim that gun and say to yourself why am I doing this? Can you answer truthfully why you want to shoot that Bear ask your self honestly, what happens if it was a mistake that you shot someone walking just when you blow that gun can you undo that mistake if you shot that person thinking it was a Bear ask a lot of questions before you start to aim that gun. What it can do, a lot of mistakes or just one mistake with a bullet, can you forgive yourself? What has the Bear done to you in the first place, Please answer that before you start shooting that Gun. I just pray you think before you do , that you DON’T.
On October 14, 2011, MELINDA wrote:
This is outragious!!! These people should be ashamed of themselves. Why not wipe out all populations of every innocent animal except humans?? Great mentality… Our race has become selfish, disgusting beings and one day, it’ll be a much bigger being that the people who allow things like this to happen will have to answer to. THIS USELESS KILLING NEEDS TO STOP! GROSS.