New York: Bear that had plastic food container stuck over his head for more than a month is finally freed

NEW YORK -- One fella learned where not to put his head.

A bear with a plastic bucket on his head was first noticed near Kirkwood, New York last month.

Residents called environmental officials after the bear showed up in someone's yard.

But, it took state workers almost a month to catch him with a trap.

Officials tranquilized him and removed the bucket, before letting him back into the wild.

They said the bear has made a full recovery, and is happy to be able to roam free again.

  

  

  

 

(CBS12 - May 26, 2017)

Vermont: James Burke fined $868 for ignoring wildlife officials' repeated warnings to stop feeding bears at his house

VERMONT -- Vermont wildlife officials said a man was fined $868 after wardens caught him feeding wild black bears in his yard.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife said Wardens Richard Watkin and Lt. Greg Eckhardt executed a search warrant at the Wilmington home of James Burke,60, and witnessed "several bears" eating from plates of food in the yard and acting "indifferent to human presence."

The agency shared a photo of a bear walking among the plates of food on Facebook.

Officials said Burke was convicted of two misdemeanor counts and fined $868 for feeding the bears, which was made illegal by a 2013 law.

The agency said Burke was repeatedly warned about feeding bears over the years (as far back as 2006) and officials offered to work with him to wean the bears off his food source, but the search warrant was issued when they discovered that bears fitted with radio collars for a habitat study were continuing to frequent the property.

"Wardens noted a large number of bears that were killed along the road near the man's residence," the Facebook post said.

“A bear that has been fed no longer behaves like a wild bear,” said Forrest Hammond, bear biologist for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. “Too often, these instances end tragically for the bear.

"The bear ends up being hit by a car as they go from house to house foraging for food, or they lose their fear of people and become aggressive and need to be put down. Bears that have been fed can present a danger not just to the person feeding the bear, but also to their neighbors for many miles around.”

(UPI - Dec 9, 2016)

Earlier:

• Vermont: Wilmington Man Arrested for Allegedly Feeding Bear

Tennessee: Gatlinburg Tourists Plead Guilty to Feeding Black Bear

TENNESSEE -- Two visitors pleaded guilty to feeding a black bear outside their Gatlinburg rental cabin last summer.

40-year-old Billy Harden and Dawn Cantrell, 27, both from Nashville, Ind., appeared in Sevier County General Sessions Court on Oct. 27, 2016 where they pleaded guilty to the charge of feeding a black bear while vacationing at a rental cabin on Silverbell Lane in Gatlinburg last July.

Feeding black bears is illegal in Tennessee. The violation is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and six months in jail.

Cantrell caused a social media uproar when she posted photos of people, including a child, hand feeding a yearling black bear.

The incident was brought to the attention of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Officer Scott Reasor, the agency’s Bear Enforcement Officer in Gatlinburg, responded to the scene and cited Harden and Cantrell with feeding the black bear.

“Feeding bears eventually results in them becoming completely habituated to approaching people and ultimately becoming dependent on humans as a food source,” said Officer Reasor. “Once this happens, they lose interest in natural foraging and have to be removed from that environment and in some extreme cases, euthanized.”

Judge Dwight Stokes assessed fines of $200 each with adjoining court costs of $270 each to both to Harden and Cantrell.

According to TWRA, the agency has documented 603 black bear incidents as of September. The majority of these cases were simple bear sightings, yet others range from garbage issues and property damage, to bears struck by vehicles and orphaned cubs. There have been only four reported incidents involving aggressive bears.

“In recent years, two separate incidents reveal just how dangerous the intentional feeding of bears can be. In 2009, a 74-year-old woman in Colorado, who had previously been warned against feeding bears by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, was found mauled to death and partially eaten by a black bear in her back yard,” said TWRA spokesperson Matthew Cameron.

“In 2015, an 85-year-old woman from Montana was attacked inside her home by a bear she had been actively feeding. She died from her injuries within days of the attack.”

TWRA announced in September that it was partnering with the City of Gatlinburg and a number of other agencies, businesses and organizations to launch the Bear Wise Task Force to develop educational materials for citizens and tourists, as well as address standards for bear-resistant trash containers.

(Sevier News Messenger - Nov 15, 2016)