Rhino
07-02-2007, 08:04 AM
Shampoo and dye Russian River bears
Idea is to accurately identify those that intimidate people
By BRANDON LOOMIS
Anchorage Daily News
Published: May 20, 2007
Last Modified: May 20, 2007 at 05:38 AM
SOLDOTNA -- There'll be some changes in how bears and humans see each other along the Russian River this summer, starting with the bears' hair.
As part of an interagency effort to pacify a danger zone where hundreds of anglers daily mingle with bears expecting to dine on human leftovers, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game plans to make over several grizzlies in bright shades of drugstore hair dye. The idea behind yellow, green, orange or blue bears is to make them instantly recognizable to anyone who reports an encounter, area wildlife biologist Jeff Selinger said.
For public safety reasons, biologists have decided they need to kill bears that repeatedly intimidate people, he said, and making it easy for people to know exactly which bear they encounter may avoid any wrongful executions.
He and other biologists plan to tranquilize several bears that frequent the area, give them a shampoo, bleach the hair around their heads, shoulders and hindquarters, and then apply dye.
"This is their only chance at surviving," Selinger said.
It's a tactic that he predicted would draw scorn from wildlife watchers, though he says the state agency is "not trying to embarrass these bears.''
Soldotna-based wildlife photographer John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, groaned when he heard of the plan. "Who wants to take a picture of a clown bear?"...
...Bears and crowds -- never a good mix -- have created tense moments in and around the confluences of the Kenai and Russian rivers in recent years. Many anglers bring guns, and last year one who felt threatened shot a bear.
In 2003, Girdwood resident Daniel Bigley barely escaped with his life after a bear bit him in the face. He was left blind and spent more than a year recovering from his injuries.
Mainly, though, it has been people killing or injuring bears and not the other way around.
Selinger said he has come to expect a bear-shooting every summer, often killing a mother raising her cubs. "Then you have orphaned cubs who only know one place to make a living,'' he said. "They hang out there and get shot or hit by cars."...http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/bears/story/8903057p-8802899c.html
Idea is to accurately identify those that intimidate people
By BRANDON LOOMIS
Anchorage Daily News
Published: May 20, 2007
Last Modified: May 20, 2007 at 05:38 AM
SOLDOTNA -- There'll be some changes in how bears and humans see each other along the Russian River this summer, starting with the bears' hair.
As part of an interagency effort to pacify a danger zone where hundreds of anglers daily mingle with bears expecting to dine on human leftovers, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game plans to make over several grizzlies in bright shades of drugstore hair dye. The idea behind yellow, green, orange or blue bears is to make them instantly recognizable to anyone who reports an encounter, area wildlife biologist Jeff Selinger said.
For public safety reasons, biologists have decided they need to kill bears that repeatedly intimidate people, he said, and making it easy for people to know exactly which bear they encounter may avoid any wrongful executions.
He and other biologists plan to tranquilize several bears that frequent the area, give them a shampoo, bleach the hair around their heads, shoulders and hindquarters, and then apply dye.
"This is their only chance at surviving," Selinger said.
It's a tactic that he predicted would draw scorn from wildlife watchers, though he says the state agency is "not trying to embarrass these bears.''
Soldotna-based wildlife photographer John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, groaned when he heard of the plan. "Who wants to take a picture of a clown bear?"...
...Bears and crowds -- never a good mix -- have created tense moments in and around the confluences of the Kenai and Russian rivers in recent years. Many anglers bring guns, and last year one who felt threatened shot a bear.
In 2003, Girdwood resident Daniel Bigley barely escaped with his life after a bear bit him in the face. He was left blind and spent more than a year recovering from his injuries.
Mainly, though, it has been people killing or injuring bears and not the other way around.
Selinger said he has come to expect a bear-shooting every summer, often killing a mother raising her cubs. "Then you have orphaned cubs who only know one place to make a living,'' he said. "They hang out there and get shot or hit by cars."...http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/bears/story/8903057p-8802899c.html