ShadowAs we see hunters surrounding this area with baits, it is hard to think of the bears we are seeing and have known for so many years being killed or wounded by hunters who have no knowledge of the long histories of these bears and their individual personalities. The difference in thinking is in hunters viewing bears as a population and us thinking of these particular bears as valued individuals who each has his or her own value to science and education. Each is an individual we have come to know. These include bears up to 33 years of age. In this long term study, each successive year makes the whole that much more valuable. Bears are long lived individuals, each with his or her own personality. As Jane Goodall wrote: “Long term research in which individuals are known allows one to ask questions that are not possible in short term or ecological studies.” In this study, we continue to observe new behaviors, each of which is put into the context of the individual and its history. Each individual that is killed ends a history. Each year, we cross our fingers that key bears will make it through another year. Hunting starts tomorrow morning—September 1. The picture is of Shadow, the second oldest black bear on record and counting at 33.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center