Human Friendly Bear Cub Put Down

[LEXTY]

A black bear cub in Canada that gained internet fame after it was photographed approaching a police officer has been euthanised because authorities feared it was becoming too friendly.

 

The young bear — known for approaching members of the public at the Terra Nova National Park in Newfoundland — made headlines two weeks ago when it was snapped standing face-to-face with Constable Suzanne Bourque.

 

The constable was investigating claims of a bear sighting in the area when the cub wandered up and brushed against her leg while she was interviewing witnesses, The Telegram reports.

 

Wildlife officials trapped the cub before moving it to a more isolated location but the animal still returned to a restaurant on the Trans Canada Highway.

 

Kirby Tulk, acting resource conservation manager with Terra Nova National Park, said they had no option but to euthanise the cub because people had ignored warnings about not feeding it.

 

He said that during spring bears are drawn to the vegetation on the roadsides and can pose a risk if they become too accustomed to humans.

 

"The bears, instead of coming to the roadside to feed off their natural vegetation, become attracted to cars and humans because they learn to associate vehicles and humans with food," Mr Tulk was quoted as saying.

 

Mr Tulk said the cub's protective mother bear could be nearby and will pose a threat to humans.

 

 

 

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8264545/b...b-fame-put-down

 

Your Thoughts?

[Cyraxx]

Well, that's one way..

 

Bit rash though, don't you think?

[LEXTY]

Of course it is. Would they rather family's being threatened by a bear cub, or a cub greeting family's with no harm.

[GTA_stu]

It might appear friendly and cuddly as a cub, but when it grows into an adult it won't look so friendly regardless of whether it wants to eat you or not. Besides it wasn't tame, just friendly, a wild animal is still a wild animal. And one that could snap your neck in a second. They did try to move it on and look for other options first, so I think they did the right thing.

 

Plus what with the protective mother, you have an immediate problem right there even if the cub is still really no harm.

[Robinski]

Would've been better if they could find a more isolated spot to relocate it to, but that move already failed once and going that far out may just have been too difficult for both man and bear. Shame really, but probably a wise move in the end.

[LEXTY]

Yes, I do agree. I would of personally removed it from that particular area. But yet again, it was only a cub.

Without it's mother, it would surely had died.

[860]

Couldn't they just haul it to the middle of nowhere? I think Canada has quite alot of nowhere.

[Punk-in-Drublic]

Dickheads; humanity doesen't surprise me though quite frankly.

[.2D]

F*cking murderers.

[Creed Bratton]

This isn't unheard off. There was a similar bear situation a couple of years ago in my country. Bears are smart animals. The one in my country (full grown bear) didn't attack humans because he knew humans are the ones that have all the food. Every day he came down from a hill to a back alley of a restaurant to wait for food. You could feed him from your own hands. No one was scared. People would even pet the bear, he didn't pose any threat. And they didn't "euthanize" him because there was no f*cking reason to do so.

[Iminicus]

While this is sad. It is the best thing for the cub as it won't be able to fend for itself in the wild later on in life, ultimately, resulting in death via starvation. The humane thing was to put it down.

[Fnorg]

Pretty sure it wouldn't have been killed if wasn't necessary. These people deal with animals for a living, I'd say they know what they're doing. They're not murderers, they're putting down something that could pose a threat. People were told not to feed it and what do they do? They feed the friggin' bear.