Officials kill grizzly bears to head-off lawsuits before they arise

Bear Attack Examiner ^ | July 31, 2010 | Dave Smith

[george76]

Wildlife officials have killed a grizzly bear in Wyoming and a grizzly bear in Montana to head-off potential lawsuits.

The Montana grizzly killed and partially consumed Kevin Kammer at a Gallatin National Forest campground near Cooke City, Mont. on July 29. The Wyoming grizzly killed 70 year-old botanist Erwin Evert on June 17 on the Shoshone National Forest near the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

The circumstances were quite different, but the decision to kill the bears was undoubtedly influenced by a 1996 court case over the terrible bear mauling of 16 year-old Anna Knochel at a U.S. Forest Service campground near Tucson, AZ. She was mauled by a bear that had recently inflicted minor injuries on another girl. Knochel and her family filed a $15 million lawsuit against the State of Arizona (Arizona Game & Fish Department) and the Forest Service.

[hoosierham]

Then the second part comes into play:stop pretending predators are just different but nice furry (or not) people,and be prepared to defend yourself when in predator territory.

[Carley]

I suspose KILL THE BEARS BEFORE THEY KILL AGAIN is not a suitable reason?

Insanity rules!

[FreeReign]

Exactly.

[tubebender]

Or visitors to National Parks should be allowed to have firearms...

[MarineBrat]

Just sayin'....

[TYVets]

Having too many Grizzlies living in your back yard is a whole different story than having too many Chipmunks living there.

[donhunt]

If these greenies had their way we’d still have dinosaurs around today. Protected, no doubt.

[Raider Sam]

Couldnt people apply “dont swim with sharks” logic to bears?

[an amused spectator]

The Montana grizzly killed and partially consumed Kevin Kammer at a Gallatin National Forest campground near Cooke City, Mont. on July 29.

The Montana grizzly partially consumed Kevin Kammer, who later died of his injuries at a Gallatin National Forest campground near Cooke City, Mont. on July 29.

There, fixed it.

[an amused spectator]

That gun is FUN to shoot.

[george76]

Pleistocene re-wilding

http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/000650.html

[TYVets]

Rather than wipe out the species just make sure they are confined to a viable wildlife area,,,

We need adopt the legislation a New Jersey State Representative introduced.

His plan was to make Northern New Jersey a bear free zone.

Sorry to say I don't remember what color signs he was going to use to get the New Jersey black bears to comply.

[MarineBrat]

Yes it is. I bought it new about 25 years ago. I’ve always called it Big Mo. :) Stainless steel .44 mag, Ruger Super Blackhawk, 7.5” barrel. I know there’s bigger and fancier pistols out there now, but this one is made for backpacking alone where high tech (or any tech) is not always a good idea. Powerful, reliable and accurate. The single action makes me comfortable using it as a pillow stuffer. :)

[Sacajaweau]

The “Deer Crossing” signs always amuse me.

[oneolcop]

I don't know about any of the other commenters on this subject, but I live in Grizzly country. They pretty well stay to themselves. A couple are killed each year by hunters who "mistake" them for black bears, but mostly, they just hang out eating whatever they can find. Haven't had an attack here in about five years. The last one was an really interesting one: A young woman was babysitting a couple of toddlers. They cooked some BBQ and were playing in the back yard when the babysitter spotted the griz coming at them. She managed to get the kids and herself into the house just as the bear caught up. He pawed at the sliding glass door trying to get at them. While he was doing this, the babysitter got a 270 Remington rifle. The griz moved away from the door a little bit and babysitter poked the rifle out and shot him at point-blank range, killing him.

There were no charges filed by Idaho Fish & Game.

The bottom line is that people who go into bear country unprepared for what might happen are pretty foolish. The enviro's have created these situations by disarming sensible folks. In this case, while I don't know if anyone was armed at the scene but bears are smart. They know when they are in danger and avoid these situations. IOW, these incidents are largely preventable. If people who aren't prepared to kill a predator go into bear country, they're prey Period.

[hoosierham]

Somehow I hadn’t placed chipmunks in the predator category.

[george76]

Brigitta Fredenhagen was killed and partially consumed by a grizzly at a backcountry campsite in Yellowstone National Park...

Good that people are now allowed to carry a gun for self defense.

[Sacajaweau]

How about cow bells in the trees around your camp....Oh yeh...you want to sleep....

Maybe if it's not windy..

Ya need a trigger to scare the b'jeebies out of a bear...."Carol Burnett"????

[george76]

Self defense is an excellent idea

[Vinnie]

Lightbulb.. (ping)

Why not relocate problem bears to a certain Nat’l Forest in AZ that abuts the Mexican border??
The one that is off limits to Americans.