Despite the wishes of animal rights groups who are lobbying for it to be rehomed to a sanctuary, a colossal black bear responsible for a string of house break-ins in California is likely to be killed. The 227 kilogram (500 pound) bear, known to locals as Yogi or Jake, is suspected of being responsible for 38 damaged homes and 150 emergency calls as he rummages through populated areas in quest of edible waste. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has now stated that they have no choice but to shoot the bear because of its proclivity for entering populated areas.
“It’s the point of no return for this bear,” Jason Holley, a supervising wildlife scientist at the Fish and Wildlife department, told the Independent. “But the public needs to correct the factors that brought us to this place, or it will continue.” “It’s tough on the personnel; they didn’t get into biology to kill.”
Residents in the region have been divided by the decision, as one might expect. Some residents are protesting the bear’s death, believing that it should be transported to a sanctuary where it can live out its long life in peace. Locals are even saying that the container-sized bear traps set up by officials (no, they aren’t utilizing the customary cruel leg traps associated with bear traps) have been vandalized with “bear killer” graffiti.
Unfortunately, euthanizing bears that come close to urban areas is a tragic but necessary practice in some situations, which is heartbreaking for bear enthusiasts. Black bears, like this one, are frequently more terrified of humans than the other way around, and sightings are primarily of them scavenging for food in the trash. Bears, on the other hand, might become a concern if they develop accustomed to humans.
Bears discovered regularly intruding on urban areas are frequently sedated and returned to the wild, but bears acclimated to humans lack the basic abilities required to thrive in the wild. In this situation, the Fish and Wildlife Department believes Yogi/Jake lacks the necessary fishing abilities. In these situations, bears frequently die in more agonizing ways. The BEAR League and other activist groups believe that Yogi/Jake should be relocated to a sanctuary because this is a needless waste of life. According to the Independent, the Fish and Wildlife Department is currently considering this.
Residents of Churchill, Manitoba, in Canada, have invented a new technique of deterrent. This ex-military barracks, dubbed the “polar bear jail,” is utilized as a holding facility for unruly polar bears who refuse to stay away from the town’s residents.
A troublesome bear will be detained there for two to thirty days, though the term can be extended if the inmate is extremely terrible. Before being tranquilized and brought back to the Tundra by helicopter, the jailed bears are not fed (bears are used to fasting, thus it does not affect them). The theory is that bears link inhabited areas with danger and hence avoid returning. “We still have a lot of work to do, especially quantitatively, to establish that fish, like other animals, can perform MSR,” Kohda said in a release. “However, as a result of this investigation, we restate our earlier study’s conclusion that either animal self-awareness or the validity of the mirror test must be changed.”
