Note: not the first mauling, just the first fatal one.
I wondered whether the backpacker was entitled to carry a gun for defense against predators. It looks like the current answer from the park service is a qualified yes - but:
Contrary to the belief of some, firearms are not needed for protection from bears, and studies have shown that pepper spray may actually be more effective in preventing a bear attack than firearms.Note the "may". A study that shows something "may actually" be the case... is a study that hasn't decided the question.
So how did the park service handle this man-killing grizzly?
The bear suspected of attacking the man ...was shot on Saturday afternoon from a helicopter, Denali park Superintendent Paul Anderson said.I don't suppose that was pepper spray they were shooting from the copter.
If they get sufficiently nervous,
even the peaceful park service
uses bullets of lead
to get the bear dead.
5 comments:
Sounds to me like this one was shot for being a bear.
The bear's a predator. There's not much he can do about that! Mmm... man has has brought backpack full of goodies into the woods for me!
Reminds me a lot of Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant." Senseless killing to appease the crowd.
They often do this when an animal kills a human, whether the animal is wild or tame. People fear the animal will make it a habit. I don't know if it really makes sense or not.
One interesting case where it didn't happen that way is that captive Orca that has killed 3 people... but they keep it around at Sea World!
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/02/when_animals_attack_twice.html
Interesting ... thanks.
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