Noliana - July 20, 2012Today the MN DNR put out a press release stating that a conservation officer shot and killed a collared bear in the Ely area. We learned of the press release when the phone began ringing off the hook with calls from reporters. A homeowner called the DNR, but it was the conservation officer who made the decision to kill Noliana. The complete news release can be seen online at http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2012/08/03/dnr-kills-nuisance-collared-bear-in-ely-area/.
The bear's behavior seems to have been misinterpreted by the homeowner and the conservation officers who responded. Bears don’t snarl or hiss—terms used by the DNR and the homeowner respectively. The bear likely blew which indicates nervousness. When we see bears being misunderstood, we doubly want to educate about bears, and that will continue to be our goal.
We don’t know why Noliana was immediately trusting and calm with us when we first saw her to take pictures of her wound on July 7. She was so friendly we assumed she was a bear we knew, but we have not been able to fit her into the Shadow’s Clan family tree with any surety. We have hair samples for DNA testing and we will continue our work to identify her. Sue says Noliana was the easiest bear to collar—seemingly oblivious to the touching needed to attach the collar—unlike any clan yearling she has collared.
Moose cow - Aug 3, 2012Along the line of calm animals, a young cow moose feeding alongside Highway 169 today demonstrated unusual trust. As people pulled over with their vehicles and got out with their cameras, the moose continued to feed without fear. The last time Lynn saw a moose that trusting was some 30 years ago. He and his team of moose researchers waded slowly up to the moose in chest-deep water and slipped a radio-collar on it to learn its fate. It died of brainworm a couple weeks later.
Moose cow browsing on willow - Aug 3, 2012On the other hand, where moose see a lot of people, they become pretty nonchalant about them. It doesn’t mean they are abnormal moose. They have simply learned not to waste energy reacting to neutral stimuli, i. e., human who present neither danger nor benefits. It’s the same with bears. If bears that became used to people were prone to attack, we couldn’t do what we do.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center