State officials kill mother bear after she ‘scratched’ a woman along forest trail

17
70
Spread the love

Two six-month-old cubs will now have to survive on their own after officials from the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) euthanized the mother bear after an incident involving a woman walking her dog along a trail in the Simsbury Town Forest Park in Connecticut.

According to WtnhNews, a 41-year-old woman had been walking on a trail Wednesday afternoon with her Labrador retriever when she came around a corner and encountered a bear with her cubs. The bear became scared, but the woman did what she was supposed to and shouted to scare the bear off. As the bear attempted to escape, it ran past the woman, but not without scratching the back of the woman’s legs. The woman did not require any medical attention. Unfortunately the tragic fate of the bear had just been sealed.

Dennis Schain, spokesperson for the DEEP stated the bear was killed shortly after the incident. The mother bear had a tracking collar enabling officials to find her and euthanize her. Animal advocates are calling this a “tragedy.” In a statement reported by MassLive.com, Annie Hornish, Connecticut Senior State Director for the Humane Society of the United States wrote:

“It’s a tragedy that this mother bear was killed, and even more heartbreaking is that her young cubs, who would have relied on their mother up to 18 months, will now likely die from predation or starvation. Black bears are highly sentient and family oriented creatures, who are greatly valued by most Americans. We must endeavor to better co-adapt to living with them and mindfully recreate in their last remaining habitats.”

DEEP says the bear was euthanized to follow a policy where protocol demands when a bear exhibits aggressive behavior, it is deemed a public safety hazard. Perhaps what really makes this a tragic call by the DEEP, is the woman involved declined medical treatment at the scene and did not require any emergency followup at a hospital. Apparently the startled bear was killed because she was protecting her cubs when faced with a dog.

Rest in peace mother bear; we can only hope your cubs survive.

(Photo of mother bear via screenshot Patch)

Follow the National Pet Rescue on Facebook.


Dog died after allegedly being beaten with a board

Heartbreaking story of dog beaten with a board. 

 


Spread the love

17 COMMENTS

  1. The bear did not attach the woman she was mearly running away a d trying to her Cubs to safety……OVERKILL!!!!!!These Cubs have NO chance at survival!!

    • You are absolutely right – this mother bear was just attempting to flee – DEEP – what part of ‘environment’ applies here? The bear was in her territory – now there will be three dead bears thanks to this idiotic action taken by DUMB DEEP.

  2. The DEEP should have the two cubs sent to a wildlife rescue. If the mother bear wanted to kill the woman she would have done so. She was trying to protect her babies, so I question was it really necessary to kill the mother bear. I strongly believe the DEEP is responsible to ensure the safety of the two cubs.

  3. What “aggressive” behavior was this bear displaying? Defending her cubs? She was scared and ran by the woman scratching her, hardly an attack! What is wrong with the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), killing a mother bear and leaving two cubs to fend for themselves is disgusting, if they can’t do their jobs any better than this, they need to find a new occupation!

  4. This was not Necessary to Kill a Mother Bear. Stupid Wildlife Game Wardens. Dumb Too. The Mother Bear was doing what come Natural, Protecting Her Cubs.

  5. This is just WRONG! Mindless and absolutely wrong! The mother bear wasn’t attacking anyone, merely attempting to get away and protect her cubs. The woman wasn’t hurt for heaven’s sake. Those cubs are now going to die because wildlife officials decided to kill the mother for no good reason, other than her trying to protect her cubs by running away from danger.

    Way to go, a******s.

  6. I’m from CT and this same DEEP snapped the neck of a male swan and crushed the eggs in the nest because they were displaying “aggressive behavior” as some stoned punks passed them in a canoe and reported the incident. This happened last year. Duh, nesting birds always behave this way. Residents reported the female swan who escaped was found dead about 2 weeks later, some say from a broken heart. Swans mate for life and the residents said they had been nesting there for 10 years. It will get to the point that no one in CT will call DEEP because they know what will happen.

  7. Absolutely disgusting we are kjlling our planet one beautiful creatures at a time, what a disgrace the human race is, we should be ashamed.

  8. This is such BS. The bear was NOT aggressive – she was protecting her cubs and then ran away. It was an ACCIDENT that caused her to scratch the woman.

  9. Oh, for the love of God, what do they expect from the poor bear. Overkill is right. Too ignorant and scared to do anything but kill. That’s always their answer with an animal; however , when they deal with animal abusers, authorities have trouble even putting them behind bars, Hey government; Just because you are human, doesn’t mean you are human…I am digressing to other stories I’ve read tonight that are disturbing me as well as this one, sorry. 🙂

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here