A Bear Story I Will NOT Share

Do you love bears?

It is a simple question and if the answer is YES... then I CHALLENGE YOU.

I challenge you to show your love and compassion for bears by posting this blog to every single picture or video you see on the web depicting the following:

They are pictures of bears in backyards doing things that you usually don't see wild bears doing.

Are the pictures "cute"? In most people's eyes...YES.

Are the pictures "cool"? Considering it may be something you'll never see in your lifetime...YES.

Are the bears in the pictures likely to die at a much younger age because of their actions? Resounding...YES.

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The third question and answer bother me. They bother me because I wrote this blog having answered yes to my very first question about loving bears...I DO love bears. 

I love seeing them. I love reading about them. I love writing about them.

So I'm not about to promote actions that KILL them.

Listen, I know that some of these pictures and videos may be happenstance. Someone came home and found the bears in that situation and snapped a few pictures. I may very well have done just the same. But then I would have made it crystal clear to those bears that they are not and will never be welcomed there. In other words, I would have scared the heck out of the bears and made sure as heck it was a place they'd never consider visiting again. Who knows, some of the folks that snapped those pictures or shot those videos may very well have done that as well (though doubtful).

What bothers me though is the potential repercussions from "sharing" and "liking" these posts.

Here is an example. A recent video depicting a bear family playing in a backyard pool (which I will NOT repost) had over 3.5 MILLION shares. It was then posted on numerous news stations as well as a few famous celebrities FaceBook pages. One in particular has over 40 MILLION followers. Each news story and each share often talked about how "cute" the video was. I consider it vile...not the video, but the message it sends.

I am not going to go into the details of why a habituated bear is a bad thing. For those that don't know, it is a bear that because of human actions, no longer displays its wild instincts and begins to associate more and more with people. In other words, they no longer fear humans and are quite tolerant within their presence. Most often this is because of people feeding them, intentionally or unintentionally.

Here's the thing...these bears DIE at a much younger age than their wild counterparts. This is due to the multiple threats they encounter being around humans (i.e. cars, poisons, poaching, dogs, etc.). In other words, the bear family, including cubs, may not get to grow up to be healthy, strong, WILD adult bears. Here's a sobering analogy, what if I found a really cute picture of a "human" toddler giggling and laughing while holding a cigarette between her fingers. Would people still be amazed at the cuteness? The analogy is strong. It's a picture of something cute that most likely won't get a chance to live its entire life without added difficulties.

Now back to the video...

Millions upon millions of likes and shares and a chance for "celebredom" for the person who shoots the video.

Now...how often do you think that thought will enter into the minds of the millions of people that live in bear country? Don't get me wrong, most folks will continue to do right. But how about those folks that are now inspired?

Inspired to try to get a pic of a bear or a bear family "playing in their backyard".

Inspired by "cuteness" and potential celebrity.

I could hear their thoughts now, "Hmmm...if I could just make a trail of donuts to the swing set. ...or the kiddie pool. ...or the hot tub. I could be on the news or have my video shared by the likes of _________!"

You may think the above actions are extreme and most will agree they are bad but how about liking and sharing them...is that truly any better?

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Alright let's wrap this up...

It's okay to be amazed and to smile at playful pictures and videos of bears in someone's backyard. They are a truly wonderful species that deserve our respect, appreciation and in particular enjoyment. But let's work together to correct this wrong.

At first I was inclined to write, "Love the picture... hate the message" but that gets us absolutely nowhere.

Instead I challenge you to "Love the picture… SEND a message!"

Let them know in the comments below that these actions, though "cute" will KILL those bears. Heck if you need to, post a copy of this link.

A Bear Story I will NOT Share

(http://nemophilosophy.blogspot.com/2016/07/a-bear-story-i-will-not-share.html)

One day, we plan to start a movement to educate the masses on how to live with bears. This will be unlike any other effort (fantastic efforts mind you) that teaches responsible behavior in bear country. We will need your help to get this movement off the ground but until then, stay tuned and enjoy bears where bears are meant to be enjoyed

...IN THE WILD!

A picture of a bear as it was meant to be...IN THE WILD!

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Note: This was one of the more difficult blogs to write. The difficulty lies in the way the message is constructed. My fear was that some people might take offense to the point I'm trying to make since it may appear as if I were pointing fingers. That is NOT the intent at all. In fact, when it comes to bears, I believe we are all reading from the same book, a book that teaches us about these wonderful animals. The problem is sometimes we are simply on different pages or chapters within that book. So instead of placing blame and pointing fingers LET'S WORK TOGETHER to try to get a message out that is worth liking and sharing. A message where our actions actually benefit bears and help create a world where bears and humans coexist peacefully and live as they were meant to live.