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Special Thanks to Lily & Hope Fans

Special Thanks to Lily & Hope Fans

August 31, 2010 – 9:56 PM CDT

Jo with ribbons - August 31, 2010This morning, Jo (RC’s 2-year-old daughter, left) and Jewel (June’s yearling daughter, right) finally got their ribbons thanks in part to the nuts you sent.

Tomorrow, hunting starts a half hour before sunrise and we’re anticipating cooperation from hunters in not shooting radio-collared bears.

Jewel with ribbons - August 31, 2010To alert them and help avoid embarrassment, we’ve posted signs throughout the study area about the radio-collared bears and we’ve tied ribbons on the collars to make them more visible.  The Department of Natural Resources website asks hunters not to shoot them and has a picture of June with her ribbons.  The Minnesota Bear Guides Association is also asking hunters not to shoot radio-collared bears.

Lily and Hope and their fans have made this year different—and we believe that difference will help protect the research bears.

Thanks to all you’ve done and the interest you’ve shown in Lily and Hope, the radio-collared bears have received unprecedented media coverage about their values to science, education, and the region.  They’ve been the subject of TV news programs, radio programs, and newspaper articles around the world.  Around Ely, nearly everyone knows about them.   Yesterday, the Duluth News Tribune helped spread the word by running a front page story and picture about the economic good that Lily’s fans do for the region.  The story ended by asking people not to shoot radio-collared bears.

The support we hear for the research is stronger than ever.  A quick story.  We worried about Cal because he is the one radio-collared bear without ribbons.  We checked the plat map for Cal’s area down by Duluth and called the owner of the nearest hunter’s cabin to alert him.  The hunter was a Lily and Hope fan.  He expressed solid support for the research, likes bears, and said Cal would be safe on his land.

It was a joy to hear his encouragement.

Actually, we are repeatedly struck by what this year has brought.  Each time we meet one of you, it’s like seeing an old friend who knows us and the bears.  Who else but Lily fans knows which bear is related to which and the emotional ups and downs of this year?  And each time we meet one of you, we discover another ally of the bears.  Your sheer numbers make you a force, an “army” as the Duluth paper said.  Your donations, your voting power, and the shopping power of the Lilypad Picnickers have not gone unnoticed by business owners and the public.

We always worry about hunting season.  Every year, each bear has a longer research history and becomes more valuable to science.  The thought that one quick bullet could destroy a bear that is irreplaceable in our lifetimes is chilling.

We can only trust the cooperation of hunters to spare them.

Meanwhile, your work in voting for Bear Head Lake State Park will make June and Lily’s park the winner of $100,000 in about an hour—by a whopping 644,000 votes.  Incredible.  At the same time, you are voting in the face of impossible odds to help the schools of Lily’s town.

As I write this, I’m watching a relaxed bear that has no idea that tomorrow the bear hunt begins.  He doesn’t wear a radio-collar, and there’s no way to protect him.  One thought is comforting.  For some reason that we don’t completely understand, the research bears (radio-collared or not) show higher survival in hunting season than other bears.  We can’t explain it.  We’re just glad it’s true.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center


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