Grizzly bears in MT

[B the Hiker]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/16/grizzly.bears.montana.ap/index.html

The article is both about politics and is itself very political, but for our purposes, it's quite interesting! It seems the grizzly bear population of Montana is growing so much that they may no longer be considered endangered there.

There are tons of quotes from folks who are happy because they can start shooting them again, but they might bear in mind (no pun intended) that the gray wolf population is also no longer endangered in some states, but the Bush administration just backed off taking them off the list.

B

 

[gaiagirl]

The Bush Admin. did not back off removing wolves in MT, WY and ID from the Endangered Species List. They did, it stood for a few months, and many wolves were shot for sport during that time period from late April until 5 or 6 weeks ago now. The decision was reversed due to successful lawsuits filed against the Administration in the matter by the Natural Resources Defense Council and others.

 

[B the Hiker]

Ah, I stand corrected! In any event, it's still good to see that the bear population is recovering.

 

[Gris]

Hmmmm

Good for whom?!!! There is no way that Grizzlies can coexist with humans, as opposed to black bears. Brown bears are just to d*mn big. Living in close proximty to brown bears is like taking a daily swim in a pool full of sharks. They don't mean you any harm personally, but eventually there will be a nasty collision. If lived in Montana I would be totally against endangered species status. I say dedicate huge tracts of true wilderness (think Alaska) for the Griz. Wolf is a whole nuther story - bad for sheep and cattle, not so bad for humans...

 

[Chip]

I believe we all will experience more encounters of both the cute and dangerous kind going forward.

 

[funkyfreddy]

Good for whom?!!! There is no way that Grizzlies can coexist with humans, as opposed to black bears. Brown bears are just to d*mn big. Living in close proximty to brown bears is like taking a daily swim in a pool full of sharks. They don't mean you any harm personally, but eventually there will be a nasty collision. If lived in Montana I would be totally against endangered species status. I say dedicate huge tracts of true wilderness (think Alaska) for the Griz. Wolf is a whole nuther story - bad for sheep and cattle, not so bad for humans...

How about giving the Grizzly, wolves, mountain lions, bison, etc. a whole state to themselves..... After all, aren't we the land of the free, home of the brave where the buffalo roam, etc. ?

Surely we could spare Idaho or Montana... or maybe Utah, Nevada, etc., move all the people out and put them on reservations.... or maybe give them condos in Florida or NYC instead.... after all, who wouldn't want to live in Florida or NYC?

 

[B the Hiker]

It is true that grizzlies and humans cannot live together, but I don't think this means we should either hunt or corner them into extinction, which is precisely is what the Endangered Species Act is designed to prevent.

Is this better for humans. Not necessarily, although I think the more biodiversity there is in general, the better. In short, I think it's better for the world for all of its species to be healthy and thriving.

Humans should be able to make room for everything else to live with us.

 

[Gris]

Several years ago

my mom gave me a book (she thought it was about hiking) by and about this guy who did a study and came up with the idea that large wild native American mammals need wildlife 'corridors' to survive. He tried to spearhead an effort to buy up the particular strips of land necessary to link Yellowstone to the Canadian Rocky Mountain wilderness in one looong wildlife corridor. He hiked the path that he had established to scout it. There was also a need for infrastructure like special green bridges over major highways, etc.

My point is the literature seemed to suggest it does more harm than good to have little isolated pockets (essentially unfenced zoos) of large wild mammals. They need a LOT of space/land. Otherwise, they either don't reproduce well and/or get into weird unnatural behavior patterns (eating human garbage or domestic animals). Though I suppose having grizzlies in or near townfolk would be a form of natural selection...

 

[cooperhill]

my mom gave me a book (she thought it was about hiking) by and about this guy who did a study and came up with the idea that large wild native American mammals need wildlife 'corridors' to survive. He tried to spearhead an effort to buy up the particular strips of land necessary to link Yellowstone to the Canadian Rocky Mountain wilderness in one looong wildlife corridor. He hiked the path that he had established to scout it. There was also a need for infrastructure like special green bridges over major highways, etc.

My point is the literature seemed to suggest it does more harm than good to have little isolated pockets (essentially unfenced zoos) of large wild mammals. They need a LOT of space/land. Otherwise, they either don't reproduce well and/or get into weird unnatural behavior patterns (eating human garbage or domestic animals). Though I suppose having grizzlies in or near townfolk would be a form of natural selection...

The book is "Walking the Big Wild" by Karsten Heuer. The effort is called Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y).

 

[Gris]

Correct

Thank you Cgarby.

 

[DougPaul]

My point is the literature seemed to suggest it does more harm than good to have little isolated pockets (essentially unfenced zoos) of large wild mammals. They need a LOT of space/land. Otherwise, they either don't reproduce well and/or get into weird unnatural behavior patterns (eating human garbage or domestic animals).

This applies to a number of species, mammal or not. Studies have been done where the number of species vs the size of isolated plots were examined. And even if a plot is big enough for groups of individuals to live and breed, the size of the interbreeding population has to be big enough to prevent inbreeding. Part of the purpose of the corridors is to allow occasional swapping of individuals to prevent such inbreeding.

Doug

 

[Snowflea]

Humans should be able to make room for everything else to live with us.

Hear! Hear!

How about giving the Grizzly, wolves, mountain lions, bison, etc. a whole state to themselves.....

Having finally read Under the Banner of Heaven, my vote goes for Utah.

Seriously, more on "Freedom to Roam" corridors here.

 

[Little Rickie]

How about giving the Grizzly, wolves, mountain lions, bison, etc. a whole state to themselves.....

How about a district....O lets say the District of Columbia?

 

[sardog1]

Living in close proximty to brown bears is like taking a daily swim in a pool full of sharks.

Actually, it's a lot like living in Anchorage:
"Bear sightings " reported by readers to the Anchorage Daily News.