rpdawes wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 2:59 pm
CaptainSuburbia wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 1:05 pm
Putting those bears down makes less and no sense.
Once bears find human meat delicious, they would want more of it. The same applies to mountain lions. The wildlife managers know the best!
That is my understanding from my reading as well. If a bear learns it can obtain food in a particular way, it will tend to continue that behavior. Bears that are fed by humans learn to seek handouts from humans to the point of even attacking for food, hence the common statement from wildlife biologists, "A fed bear is a dead bear." Likewise, the wildlife management community makes the assumption that a bear which has tasted human meat will be more likely to eat it the next time around. It is possible animals such as those in this thread may never choose to eat human meat again, but wildlife management errs on the side of protecting human lives. That doesn't mean anyone likes killing these magnificent animals in these situations. It is just the value society places on human lives compared to other animals, though in other ways it can be argued that our balance is skewed too much toward humans. But one can imagine the uproar if someone's child was eaten by a bear and then the bear was allowed to continue living and it attacked another child.
Viewing wildlife is part of the joy of being out in wild places. I have been in close proximity to black bears in the Appalachians and in Glacier National Park, four of which were within 40 yards or less. One was only about 10 yards away, but so far, so good. Some of my favorite places are in the Canadian Rockies and in Glacier where there are plenty of Grizzlies. I do not want to ever get that close to a Grizzly and I prefer keeping my distance with black bears as well. I carry a highly rated bear spray, but have not had to use it and hope I never have to. Considering the range of bear spray, retaining the composure to accurately direct bear spray at a fast closing charging grizzly is something I don't like to think about.
"Education is the process of moving from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty." (Utvich)