Hunter kills bear cub rescued from fire

Many of you may remember the engulfing inferno's in Montana last summer and the orphaned black bear cub which was rescued from the scorched land in the Bitterroot Valley.

The cub was taken to a local Veterinary Clinic in Helena, Montana, in August 2000. Its paws were scorched from walking on the hot ashes where his home once was. The cub was then taken to a small wildlife shelter where he recovered from the burns and then was released last winter back into the wild. Wildlife biologists placed him, asleep, into a manmade den where he emerged sometime in April.

At the time of his release, the odds of survival were a mere 50/50. The bear lost those odds with a single bullet from a hunter.

On Tuesday, October 9, State officials got notice that the bear had been shot in Western Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks confirmed Friday, October 12 that a hunter legally killed the bear. Confirmation came from the ear tags attached to him when he was released.

"You feel bad when it's one you have taken care of and this happens, but that's part of the program," Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commissioner Darlyne Dascher said Friday. "It does pull at the heartstrings, but if you're going to put them back in the wild, that's the risk you take."

"Had the bear not been released, he probably would have gone to a zoo," said Ron Aasheim, a DFWP spokesman. "We've given them a second chance to be wild and free. We think that's a lot better than a life behind bars."

Many were saddened by the news as the pictures of his bandaged paws captured the hearts of many including Dr. Hans Boer, the veterinarian who cared for him.

"It was such a positive, feelgood kind of thing - what was done for the bear," Boer said. "I knew he wasn't immune. I just find it sad."

Like other bears and wildlife, this cub faced the same risks while being free and trying to survive in the wild.

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November 1, 2001 - For Immediate Release

67,000 people who commented on Yellowstone Bison Management Plan kept in the dark about grazing allotment on National Forest land

(Missoula - MT) An alliance of Yellowstone bison advocates today criticized the U.S. Forest Service for keeping the pubic in the dark on their plans to renew a grazing allotment on National Forest land that provides traditional habitat for Yellowstone's wild bison herd.

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