We are humbled by the outpouring of heartfelt support we received today from Lily fans. We are all in this together and supporting each other is more important than ever. We have done some real soul-searching—asking ourselves what we could have done differently to better protect Hope. Some of you are asking similar questions.
Each fall we walk a fine line between protecting the research bears and respecting the rights of hunters. Radio-collared bears are only legally protected if they are accompanied by a researcher who identifies the bear as a research bear. This sounds easy. Just assign someone to each radio-collared bear to shepherd them through the hunt. But the reality if far from easy.
Not all of the radio-collared bears will tolerate being walked with and few people are experienced enough to sensitively walk with a bear and not influence it movements. Bears are difficult to keep up with when they move through dense woods without stopping and hunters don’t want researchers trouping through the woods interrupting their hunt.
It’s likely that Hope wandered into a bait site unaccompanied by radio-collared Lily. If we were walking with Hope into that bait site, the hunter could have rightfully charged us with interrupting his/her hunt. And our presence would not have prevented the hunter from legally shooting non-collared Hope. A hunter harassment charge would jeopardize our permit. Without our permit the research ends.
Many have suggested we mark the non-collared bears in some way—paint, dye, etc. That would make them noticeable but it wouldn’t really protect them. Plus it would serve to undermine our credibility as researchers and aggravate the hunters whose cooperation we rely on to spare the radio-collared bears.
We tried to collar Hope so many times we lost track of the count. We even designed a new attachment system that would make the collaring process quicker. We found she would tolerate the collar resting on the back of her neck but as soon as she felt it going around the front she resisted. She would push it down with her paw, pull away, give us a long nose, or turn and place her teeth on our arm (though never bit us). She got wise and would take a mouthful of nuts, move off, then spit them out to eat at her usual one-at-a-time pace. We also had Lily and Faith to contend with. Lily wasn’t a problem, but Faith would often challenge Hope for the nuts—even if Faith had her own. The variables we had to work with were many and Hope simply did not want to be collared.
So, yes, we ask ourselves if we really tried hard enough or explored all the options. We can continue to second-guess ourselves, but we can’t roll back the calendar and try again. At this point we are seeking confirmation from the DNR so we can have some closure. This is a loss we will feel for a long time. We are often asked how we can continue to do this. This Khalil Gibran quote posted on Lily’s page sums it up.
“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
We wanted to spend time with Lily and Faith today in the remote location they have moved to, but it became a media day. Word of Hope’s disappearance has spread and we received many calls from reporters.
This afternoon we noticed June’s GPS unit had quit giving us her locations. Was she in a den? At 6:28 AM, her GPS had shown her to be back at the deep rock den she and Lily both checked out a couple weeks ago. Then nothing. We walked in on her radio-signal to check. The family was there, all right, and what a deep den. The entrance is a chimney 8-10 feet down—the deepest we have seen. We don’t know how June and her cubs climb out. We zoomed in on the bed and took a flash picture—no bedding yet. They haven’t begun raking.
June’s heart rate was variable. Pauses between some beats were nearly 2 seconds (about 24 beats per minute) followed by more rapid beats. There were 4 to 6 beats per 5-second interval, which translates to 48 to 72 beats per minute.
It was a relief to see June and her cubs safe at a den. We hope they stay there. We dread the hunting season all year. Every time we feel the privilege of being with a wild animal that trusts us enough to ignore us, we worry we’ll lose her come hunting season. So often we have been in the midst of obtaining unique data, as with Hope, and have had the story cut short by a hunter.
Every radio-collared bear that is killed represents a loss to science, education, the area, and us. After spending so much time with these bears, a death is a personal loss and one which thousands of you are feeling right along with us.
This is a time to come together. Many Lily fans who left the ‘Lily the Black Bear’ Facebook page are asking to come back. They want to return to the page to share their grief about Hope with their friends. Facilitating their return to the page has begun and will continue over the next few days. Please be patient as we work though this long process.
After reading many of your survey comments and consulting with social networking professionals, the Lily Mods and we are moving in directions that should make the page an exciting place. The mods will be posting under individually identifiable names and will be operating under a new philosophy. We view a kinder, gentler future with more teamwork as we continue to strive toward a social discussion page that students can visit, that reporters can read, and where people can become friends and learn about bears. The mods and we thank you for your survey comments and thank the professionals who are doing so much behind the scenes to guide us. We are all excited about working together toward additional changes. More later.
A treat of a different sort today was a rare look at a goshawk (a juvenile) as it chased a blue jay and then landed briefly on the railing outside the office window. This is the first goshawk we have seen on the property when leaves were on the trees. All other glimpses were in winter.
Thank you for all you do. We appreciate you more than these simple words can express.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center