Knimrod
06-04-2006, 12:44 AM
When is killing a bear justified?
June 02, 2006
Howard Meyerson
The Grand Rapids Press
What I remember most about the bear was its eyes: two glowing embers at the fringe of darkness. It stood at the perimeter of our camp 40 feet away, barely lit by the fire.
We watched it watch us for 30 minutes And then, it was gone.
I heard the next day from a ranger that the bear was a young, orphaned male that had become a nuisance. It had wandered out of the bush into this northern Ontario campground, found ample pickings and decided to stay.
Earlier campers had been lax about storing food. Later campers were paying the price.
He spoke of a group that put peanut butter on a tree to encourage the bear to come close for photos. The bear would now have to be trapped and moved.
Hunter shoots bear
I was reminded of this young bear last week after Bill Tippett, a Kentwood resident, shot a young bear near Sand Lake while hunting with his son and nephew.
Tippett said he felt the youth were in danger. The bear was being chased by a dog. It ran into the area and toward the kids.
It is illegal to shoot a bear out of season and without a permit, but it is legal to kill one in self-defense if you feel imminently threatened. Law enforcement officials say Mr. Tippett's family was not actually attacked, but that Tippett was justified in killing the bear because he felt they were in danger.
The question that arises is, where do you draw the line? When is someone actually threatened? When are they simply afraid?
Felt chill of fear
Sitting by the fire that night, we all felt a little chill of fear. Would it come into our camp? Would it be a threat?
We had all night to ponder the question. Mr. Tippett had just a few seconds to decide.
State officials say this question is surfacing with increasing frequency in southern Michigan, where black bears are moving into the area.
The bear that Tippett killed was most likely pushed out by its mother. That's a common phenomenon with 2-year-old bear. They wander, trying to find their own territory, a place where an older, more established, male won't challenge them.
The Michigan bear population is healthy and growing, according to wildlife officials. It numbers between 15,000 and 19,000. Hunters are allowed to kill 2,000 a year. Ninety percent reside in the Upper Peninsula. Between 1,500 to 1,900 live in the northern lower peninsula.
A small but growing number now live in southern Michigan -- below a line from Saginaw to Muskegon.
"We have had more than 200 verified sightings in the southern Michigan during the last five years," said Dave Bostick, the Department of Natural Resources' black bear expert. "There are pockets of good bear habitat.
"They live in swamps and forested areas and we think they move around following the river bottoms.
"We just had a bear hit on I-75 in Flint and think it followed the Flint River."
The problem, of course, is most southern Michigan residents are not ready for bear. Most have only seen a bear in the zoo or on TV.
It is one thing to know they live "up north." Another to have them in your backyard.
Which is why the state is working to educate people about bear. Its Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr has several pages dedicated to black bear natural history, management and tips for living with them.
Black bear attacks are extremely rare, according to Bostick. They are a timid creature that will back off or run if humans are loud and aggressive. But they can become a nuisance and even a problem if people leave their garbage and bird feeders out.
Bear will come and feed at either place. And if they like what they find, they are likely to return.
Which raises the question that state officials now wrestle with: Can the public grow more comfortable with the idea of bear in the area?
Law enforcement officials are concerned about an increasing number of bear shootings where someone believes they are threatened, but may not be.
"We are losing one bear a year on average, in Mecosta, Newaygo and Oceana counties, said Sgt. Scott Wilks, the DNR law enforcement supervisor for that area. "It seems when someone sees a bear they feel an urge or need to shoot it. That people are shooting bear because they see one is getting old."
The problem, said Wilks, who was just named as Safari Club International's Conservation Officer of the Year, is that people are unaccustomed to seeing bear. As such they often feel "menaced" when, in fact, they aren't.
"If a bear is passing through and you don't want it to stay around, don't give it a reason. Take in the garbage," Scott said.
His is tried-and-true advice.
That young bear in Canada was not the first or the last that I have encountered in the bush over the years. Some were much larger. None were aggressive.
Of course, we knew we were going to bear country and took the precaution of keeping a clean camp. What the DNR now wants people to understand is that the same applies when bear country comes to you.
Link to article (http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/114925411655350.xml?grpress?SPHM&coll=6)
June 02, 2006
Howard Meyerson
The Grand Rapids Press
What I remember most about the bear was its eyes: two glowing embers at the fringe of darkness. It stood at the perimeter of our camp 40 feet away, barely lit by the fire.
We watched it watch us for 30 minutes And then, it was gone.
I heard the next day from a ranger that the bear was a young, orphaned male that had become a nuisance. It had wandered out of the bush into this northern Ontario campground, found ample pickings and decided to stay.
Earlier campers had been lax about storing food. Later campers were paying the price.
He spoke of a group that put peanut butter on a tree to encourage the bear to come close for photos. The bear would now have to be trapped and moved.
Hunter shoots bear
I was reminded of this young bear last week after Bill Tippett, a Kentwood resident, shot a young bear near Sand Lake while hunting with his son and nephew.
Tippett said he felt the youth were in danger. The bear was being chased by a dog. It ran into the area and toward the kids.
It is illegal to shoot a bear out of season and without a permit, but it is legal to kill one in self-defense if you feel imminently threatened. Law enforcement officials say Mr. Tippett's family was not actually attacked, but that Tippett was justified in killing the bear because he felt they were in danger.
The question that arises is, where do you draw the line? When is someone actually threatened? When are they simply afraid?
Felt chill of fear
Sitting by the fire that night, we all felt a little chill of fear. Would it come into our camp? Would it be a threat?
We had all night to ponder the question. Mr. Tippett had just a few seconds to decide.
State officials say this question is surfacing with increasing frequency in southern Michigan, where black bears are moving into the area.
The bear that Tippett killed was most likely pushed out by its mother. That's a common phenomenon with 2-year-old bear. They wander, trying to find their own territory, a place where an older, more established, male won't challenge them.
The Michigan bear population is healthy and growing, according to wildlife officials. It numbers between 15,000 and 19,000. Hunters are allowed to kill 2,000 a year. Ninety percent reside in the Upper Peninsula. Between 1,500 to 1,900 live in the northern lower peninsula.
A small but growing number now live in southern Michigan -- below a line from Saginaw to Muskegon.
"We have had more than 200 verified sightings in the southern Michigan during the last five years," said Dave Bostick, the Department of Natural Resources' black bear expert. "There are pockets of good bear habitat.
"They live in swamps and forested areas and we think they move around following the river bottoms.
"We just had a bear hit on I-75 in Flint and think it followed the Flint River."
The problem, of course, is most southern Michigan residents are not ready for bear. Most have only seen a bear in the zoo or on TV.
It is one thing to know they live "up north." Another to have them in your backyard.
Which is why the state is working to educate people about bear. Its Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr has several pages dedicated to black bear natural history, management and tips for living with them.
Black bear attacks are extremely rare, according to Bostick. They are a timid creature that will back off or run if humans are loud and aggressive. But they can become a nuisance and even a problem if people leave their garbage and bird feeders out.
Bear will come and feed at either place. And if they like what they find, they are likely to return.
Which raises the question that state officials now wrestle with: Can the public grow more comfortable with the idea of bear in the area?
Law enforcement officials are concerned about an increasing number of bear shootings where someone believes they are threatened, but may not be.
"We are losing one bear a year on average, in Mecosta, Newaygo and Oceana counties, said Sgt. Scott Wilks, the DNR law enforcement supervisor for that area. "It seems when someone sees a bear they feel an urge or need to shoot it. That people are shooting bear because they see one is getting old."
The problem, said Wilks, who was just named as Safari Club International's Conservation Officer of the Year, is that people are unaccustomed to seeing bear. As such they often feel "menaced" when, in fact, they aren't.
"If a bear is passing through and you don't want it to stay around, don't give it a reason. Take in the garbage," Scott said.
His is tried-and-true advice.
That young bear in Canada was not the first or the last that I have encountered in the bush over the years. Some were much larger. None were aggressive.
Of course, we knew we were going to bear country and took the precaution of keeping a clean camp. What the DNR now wants people to understand is that the same applies when bear country comes to you.
Link to article (http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/114925411655350.xml?grpress?SPHM&coll=6)