Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Hey Boo Boo...

Bear in tree:


Bear out of tree:


The young black bear that fascinated neighbors and bystanders in a northwest city neighborhood this morning has died.

A black bear cub was spotted going up a tree on Parkwood Road about 12:30 a.m. DEC fish and wildlife technician Ronald Newell said normally bears are allowed to take their own course and come down from trees on their own. But because he was in a residential neighborhood with about 100 people gathered to watch, officials decided to tranquilize the bear with a dart and let it fall into a net to then be transported to state-owned land.

Newell said he missed the first shot but the second shot struck him in one of the bear’s thigh muscles, which he said is a good spot.

After the bear was struck with the tranquilizing dart, several men held up a net to catch the falling cub to help break his fall. The bear was quickly put inside a bear trap to be taken from the scene and was still alive at that point, Newell said.

“We took it over to the cemetery to get him away from the crowd and under some shade,” Newell said, adding that when a technician checked him at the cemetery, the bear’s head was tucked under his neck and he was not breathing. More officials arrived and confirmed the bear was dead.

Newell said it is not certain yet why or how the bear died but they think it may have been asphyxiation due to injuring his neck during the fall.

“It’s unfortunate. I feel terrible,” Newell said. “This is why we prefer to let them come down on its own.”

Newell said that about 10 percent of animals that are shot with a tranquilizer end up dying due to other factors.

While it is not certain how the bear made it into the residential neighborhood in the city, DEC officials think it may have made its way up through the river corridor. There was a bear spotted on Manitou Road in Greece Sunday but it Newell did not know if it was the same one.

The young bear is estimated to be about 150-pounds, Newell said, adding that because June and July is mating season for bears, the young bear’s mother probably sent him away and he just kept going upstream.

“It’s getting more and more common,” Newell said about bears coming into residential areas. “Vegetation is moving up north.”

He suggests people take down their bird feeders during the summer months because bears are attracted to bird feeders.

Official are still determining what to do with the dead bear.


-Thanks to the Democrat and chronicle

They are determining what to do with the dead bear? Stuff that son of a bitch and sell it. Donate all the bear meat to a shelter and let the homeless eat like kings for a few days. Maybe next time they will learn to catch a falling animal from a tree!

No comments: