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Breaking News
GARY CHITTIM / KING 5 News: NEAR LEAVENWORTH, Wash. - Researchers Paula MacKay and Rob Long are on their way back into the deep woods in the Icicle Creek Canyon. They were here two weeks ago, stretching a strand of barbed wire between trees surrounding a pile of sticks covered in a putrid blend of blood and chicken guts. They hope curious bears will go to investigate and leave behind a strand of hair on one of the barbs.
ROB CHANEY, The Missoulian: MISSOULA — When confronting an angry grizzly bear in the woods, the last thing you want to worry about is the fine print on your can of bear spray.
But as customers scour the shelves for protection in the wake of recent fatal bear attacks, the fine print matters.
ELIZABETH BLUEMINK, Anchorage Daily News : Anchorage police said they shot and killed a black bear and two cubs at a Stuckagain Heights home after the animals broke in last week and tried again twice on Saturday.
Police said they shot the sow on a back doorstep of the smaller of two houses on the property at about noon Saturday as it was clawing at the door. Officers then shot one cub while it was on the roof and a second while it was on a deck. A third escaped into the woods.
Kris Capps, The Daily News Miner: FAIRBANKS — Denali Borough Mayor Dave Talerico shot and killed a grizzly bear when it charged him this week at the Denali Borough Landfill.
“I just feel horrible,” Talerico said.
A taxidermist who examined the hide later discovered the bear had been shot earlier with a bullet from a .22, the mayor said. When he learned the bear had been wounded earlier, Talerico said he felt a little better about his decision to shoot in the interest of public safety — particularly his own at the time.
Megan Grittani-Livingston, Whistler Question : Busy July for bear calls closes with yearling getting into Riverside tent
The weekend took its toll on Whistler's bear population, as two more were killed on Saturday and Sunday (July 31 and Aug. 1) — one destroyed after breaking into a tent at the Riverside Campground, and the other dead after being hit by a car.
A busy July for bear calls ended with the destruction of the tent-invading bear on Saturday. Dave Jevons of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said a female yearling that had a history of a high level of conflict around the Village broke into a tent at Riverside, and got into some food and toiletries.
ERYN GABLE, SPECIAL TO E&E, New York Times: Despite recent high-profile attacks by grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area that have killed two people and left two others seriously injured, wildlife officials say human-bear encounters are not on the upswing, and that such events remain "very, very rare."
The most recent attacks occurred last week at a Gallatin National Forest campground east of Cooke City, Mont., near the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park (Land Letter, July 29).
Michael McCarthy, North Shore Outlook : “I heard a noise in the carport and I thought it was a dog. When I went to check it turned out to be a bear, about 12 feet away, going through the garbage. I was shocked.”
On July 22 Phillip van Niekirk experienced a bear “interaction” at his home in North Vancouver. In this case, the animal entered his carport.
CBC News : A resident of Whistler, B.C., wants crossbow hunting banned in the municipality after learning that it's legal to use the weapons to hunt bears within the resort community's boundaries.
Sylvia Dolson opposes bear hunting and says it's just a matter of time before a person becomes a victim of a crossbow.
"Safety is a major concern," Dolson told CBC News. "We have all kinds of parks, hiking trails, biking trails."
KRISTY BROWNLEE, QMI AGENCY: University of Alberta researchers are getting a bear's eye view to learn about grizzlies -- a threatened species in the province.
New high-tech collars have been placed on bears, featuring cams and GPS, to take a colour photo every 15 minutes and track the animals’ location every hour.
By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald: Disposal of BSE-affected carcasses blamed
Bears have killed his livestock and preyed on sick calves. They tear open silage bags and break into grain bins.
But the real fear for Tony Bruder, a third-generation Twin Butte cattle rancher, is that one day it will be a human at the ugly end of a bear's attention.
He's been chased by a bear while on horseback, and had grizzlies stroll by while he works under farm equipment. He's watched his children head out the back door to catch the school bus, and a bear wander through moments later.
Mathew Brown, Helana Independent Record : BILLINGS — A grizzly bear that preyed on three campers outside Yellowstone National Park was underweight but not starving, and it was in an area with ample natural food supplies, wildlife officials said Monday as they worked to figure out why the animal attacked.
With the necropsy on the female grizzly still being analyzed, officials had no explanation for what caused the bear to rampage through a campground Wednesday with cubs in tow.
JAMES HALPIN, Anchorage Daily News : Citing the recent off-duty action of one of its officers, the Anchorage Police Department on Monday urged the public to avoid zapping bears with Tasers unless life or property is in peril.
The statement comes after police Lt. Dave Parker used a Taser on July 22 to discourage a black bear lured to a fish fryer at Parker's Hillside home. When the incident was publicized the next day, it stirred up strong reaction pro and con.
Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News: Some biologists and bear advocates are trying a truly radical, sometimes illegal, but apparently effective strategy to stop confrontations between humans and black bears: They are feeding the bears.
The tactic flies in the face of decades of lore that says feeding bears conditions them to seek food only from humans and makes them fearlessly "habituated" to human presence, and so more dangerous. Yet in the handful of cases where bears are fed properly, there are far fewer bear problems.
The Associated Press: BILLINGS, Mont. — A newly opened paintball course in Montana had to shut down after odor from disintegrated paintballs was luring possibly dangerous guests: bears.
Big Sky Marketing Director Dax Schieffer says the resort tried to find an environmentally friendly paintball. But it turned out that the one selected contains a vegetable oil that can attract grizzly and black bears that commonly roam the region.
The China Post: TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Police have mounted a manhunt for the owner of a restaurant in Chiayi County who has disappeared following reports that he allegedly mistreated endangered bears and even sold the animals' paws and meat as a delicacy.
The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) held a press conference on Friday to accuse Lin Chin-hsiu, operator of the Quanyuan Villa and restaurant in Chiayi's Meishan Village, of abusing the protected bears and of possibly selling the meat after one of the bears died.
Elizabeth Leboe, Special To North Shore News: In 2008, the North Shore Black Bear Society and the North Shore Recycling Program (NSRP) jointly developed guidelines for composting in bear country to provide consistent information to residents who wish to reduce the garbage they send to landfill while maintaining a bear-safe neighbourhood.
Since then, we have collaborated to deliver the composting-in-bear-country message to North Shore residents through popular community events, newspaper articles and ads, information brochures, how-to videos, public workshops and private gatherings.
The Associated Press : FAIRBANKS -- The National Parks Service will not pursue charges against a hiker who fatally shot a grizzly bear while hiking in Denali National Park and Preserve two months ago, saying his actions were justified.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the North Pole man told authorities he shot the bear after it charged his girlfriend while the two were hiking up Tattler Creek on May 28.
Mathew Simon, KVTA 11 News : ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTVA-CBS 11 News) In light of more bear encounters in many Anchorage back yards, one state lawmaker says it is time to come up with answers.
State Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage, held her second in a series of bear aware events Saturday at the Hillside Trail Head.
Millett was joined by members of the Anchorage Police Department, the Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Waste to better educate Anchorage residents on how to deal with living in bear country, and avoiding deadly trail encounters.
Dave Smith, The Examiner: Wildlife officials have killed a grizzly bear in Wyoming and a grizzly bear in Montana to head-off potential lawsuits.
The Montana grizzly killed and partially consumed Kevin Kammer at a Gallatin National Forest campground near Cooke City , Mont. on July 29. The Wyoming grizzly killed 70 year-old botanist Erwin Evert on June 17 on the Shoshone National Forest near the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Associated Press: ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Bear-friendly doorknobs could be out in the Aspen area.
The county commissioners have given preliminary approval to a ban on lever-style door handles on new or remodeled homes. Bears looking for food can hit the levers and open the door but have a much harder time with round doorknobs.
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