Bear Bloodshed

A beautiful Florida Black Bear
Picture credit:  FDOT

I have been quiet about this for two weeks, but cannot remain silent any longer.
My blood is boiling and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop this,  it would seem.
About two weeks ago, a local woman was out walking her dogs at night and was ” viciously “ attacked by a Black Bear and there was of course, a huge reaction by the local Press.
As many of you may already know, Black Bears in Florida have a nearly perfect record, when it comes to hurting any humans.
In response to the ” vicious “attack, the FWS immediately set out traps and were obsessed with getting the guilty bear off of the streets.
A few days later,  one was caught and FWS was adamant about one fact, they were going to do DNA tests, to be sure that this was the ” guilty “  Bear.
And they promised that they would not kill it, until they knew for sure.
Then a few days later, another  bear was caught, now they had two Black Bears.
A few days later, long before any DNA tests were ever returned, they were  ” euthanized. “
FWS said that they just had no place to keep these two large Bears!
There were still no results from the DNA tests before this was done.
Then just a few days ago, a mother bear and two cubs was caught in the same area.
They were,  it was announced, being held, but not killed.
Finally a day or two ago, it was announced by FWS that the DNA results had come back and that the mother of these two cubs was the ” vicious “ bear that attacked the woman with her dogs that night.
They said because of the two cubs, she will not be killed until they are old enough to be without her and in the meantime all three were sent to live at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
But the most important fact missing in these latest news stories was this, this was a mother Bear out with her two cubs that night  and she was probably startled by the woman with her dogs.
So, this mamma Bear did what any other mother animal would do, she protected her babies.
This point has NOT been made by any news agency, to my knowledge.
So, the two Bears that were killed, were innocent and the “ guilty "  one  was protecting her babies.
But, why on Earth do any of them have to be killed?
The public reaction after the first two were killed, was a complete landslide in favor of the now two dead bears.
People here are completely outraged about this whole nightmare.
But the sickest part of all, is that where this woman was ” viciously “ attacked by this mother bear,  was very close to a heavily wooded area that is known for having many Bears.
My question is this, why do we allow countless homes to be built right in the middle of Bear and other wilderness areas and then kill them when they react as any normal Human would?
If people want no contact with wildlife, then they should move into the city.
If you choose to live out in the woods as we do, then you should expect to see or encounter wild things.
They were here first and they should be given just a little respect.
We are living in their bedrooms, in their dining rooms, not the other way around and if we don’t like that fact, then we need to get the Hell out of their homes.
We are absolutely the intruders here!

A random news story about this issue was chosen to provide you with some general information:
DNA Test Confirms Wrong Bears Killed After Longwood Woman Attacked