JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — As a result of continued harassment by wildlife viewers creating unsafe conditions on Togwotee Pass, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners plan to conduct a two-week, intensified hazing of a popular grizzly bear and her cubs.
Bear 863, known as Felicia by her followers, has made a habit of hanging particularly close to U.S. Highway 26/287 on Togwotee Pass. It’s perhaps a learned behavior similar to bear 399—both sows opting to be near humans and highly trafficked areas in order to avoid aggressive boars who sometimes attempt to kill cubs in order to bring females into heat again.
USFWS say conditions on Togwotee Pass have gotten out of hand. Recent incidents include one commercial trucker flying a drone, illegally, within 10 feet of the grizzly, who did not appear to be concerned, according to onlookers. Traffic concerns and the potential for human-wildlife conflict pose a “serious threat,” say officials.
Citing safety concerns, wildlife management officials say the hard haze for the rest of the month could include so-called ‘cracker’ shells, paintballs, trained dogs, bullhorns, slingshots armed with marbles, beanbag projectiles, and other means of deterrent.
If these methods fail to move the bear, authorities say euthanasia will be considered. That has wildlife advocate groups up in arms.
“The narrative that the Fish and Wildlife Service is using, calling this family a so-called “dangerous situation” is, to put it bluntly, absurd,” reads a petition on Change.org which has well over 20,000 signatures in three days.
USFWS urges bear-lovers to avoid the area for the remainder of June for the hazing efforts to have the greatest chance of success. Detractors say it sounds like the agency prefers to work in the dark, away from scrutinizing eyes.
“Ultimately, if murdering this bear and her two cubs is the direction that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service takes, it will be documented and recorded, which will become a PR nightmare for all agencies involved. The killing of a bear that has brought joy to many tourists will not be one the public will forget, and the local community will work hard to ensure that such an abuse is remembered and learned from,” supporters of Felicia stated.
The short but troubled history of bear 863 is well-documented by David Mattson of Grizzly Times. Before the young mother turned 3 she was captured, collared, and relocated twice.
“Felicia is a tragic figure who could have easily been a character in classic Greek literature or a Victorian novel. She is a bear’s version of the young woman who got in trouble with the law and ended up a single mom in a rough neighborhood trying to scrape together a living while fending off predatory males,” Mattson wrote.
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