dnr letter to bear researcher lynn rogers

7/29/2019 DNR letter to bear researcher Lynn Rogers

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Attachment A

Incidents reported in 2012 Page 1 of 5

Attachment AIncidents reported in 2012

As communicated to you earlier, we are increasingly concerned with bear/human conflicts and potential

threats to public safety in the Tower/Ely area, many of them attributed to bears that are apparently

habituated and involved in your research. To briefly recap some of the previously documented incidents

that concern this agency:

We are in possession of a notarized affidavit from a 2011 course participant who described 2

unreported bite incidents. The complainant indicates both you and Sue were witnesses to both

events, yet no report was ever filed. This was a clear permit violation that could result in

immediate revocation of your permit. Simply, it cannot happen again.

A complaint was received from the public that on two separate occasions in early May, bear #10

and her yearling cubs were on the persons property and up on the deck near the front door,

climbing up the railings, and looking into the windows. Complainant did not have any bird feeders

out. Complainant thought the bears were getting more brazen than in years past.

In early May complaints were received from various concerned citizens in Tower about nuisance

bear issues. The citizens were concerned that there were numerous bears hanging around in the

neighborhood, not fearful of humans, snarling/hissing at residents, making dogs bark, breaking

trees, walking on decks, and defecating in their yards. The bears referenced in the complaints

include both collared and non-collared bears and were thought to be about 5 different bears.

A DNR Conservation Officer went to the area in response to these complaints. He observed a

possibly two year old black bear, about 180 pounds, walking from a large pile of sunflower seeds.

The officer then stood on the deck and took his camera out of the case. Within 30 seconds the

bear came toward him, walking, directly to him and stopped at a distance of 4 feet, sniffing the air.

The officer backed away and took a photo of this bear (see Photo 1). This was a non-collared

bear, but its neck fur showed signs of possibly being collared before. He then observed two other

bears that were lying by a tree, behind another house. With camera in hand, he walked over to adistance half way between the house and the bear. He did not say anything to the bears, nor did he

have anything but a camera in his hand. Within one minute, the 80 pound yearling cub with a

white V on its chest came walking toward him, stopped within 4 feet of his standing location, then

came over to his feet, stood up, and put its left paw on his front right pants pocket. The officer

attempted to take a photo; however, the camera would not focus on its face that was one foot away.

The bear got down, and he was then able to take a photo (see Photo 2). The officer had no food

or food containers. Another person was with the officer (his left foot can be seen in this photo).

During this encounter, bear #33 (see Photo 3) was right behind the cub, staying about 5 feet away,

but appeared to be looking at him for some food. The officer also talked to another resident in the

area who said she is in fear of the bear, her dog is in jeopardy, and she wants the bears to be less

tame.

In late May, numerous formal and informal complaints were received through calls, office walk-in

visitors and other routine public contact by DNR staff in the Tower area. The general types of

complaints included: bluff charges at people and pets; jaw popping and huffing at people and pets;

sows with cubs loitering around the school bus stop with numerous children present; bears

loitering on decks; bears checking for open doors and windows in houses; bears in town at all

hours of the day and night; bears walking the streets and sidewalks; and bears doing property

damage. Also, just before the busy Memorial Day week end, staff at Bear Head Lake State Park


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Attachment A


reported an adult radio collared bear with two yearling cubs approaching vehicles and people in

the park. One of the cubs had a radio collar.

On the morning of May 22, one of your permitted bears (#33) was shot and died, which potentially

could be the result of people being frustrated with unsafe bear encounters.

In early August, a Conservation Officer had to kill one of your collared bears in the Ely area after

it entered a garage where children were present and refused to leave the area (see Photo 4). DNR

had received a call from upset residents whose children were in their garage when a bear entered

it. The residents reported they made repeated unsuccessful attempts to scare the bear away,

including using an air horn, and that the bear snarled at them. Two conservation officers arrived to

find the bear still in the area. The bear appeared to have been habituated to humans. After the bear

refused to leave the residence, despite attempts by a conservation officer to frighten it away, the

officer killed it.

The photograph of a course participant, which we believe is from August 2012 depicting an

individual feeding a bear on the WRI deck (see Photo 5).

The video of thebear you call Lily dancing on a Facebook page,

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.157132420988255&type=2. I view this as

unacceptable behavior and neither research or education; rather, it borders on exploitation.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.157132420988255&type=2http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.157132420988255&type=2http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.157132420988255&type=2


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Attachment A


Photo 1.

Photo 2.


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Attachment A


Photo 3.

Photo 4.


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Attachment A


Photo 5.


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Special Permit No. 16868 (Capture, handle, radio-collar, and monitor for research and education purposes) Page 1 of 3


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Special Permit No. 16868 (Capture, handle, radio-collar, and monitor for research and education purposes) Page 2 of 3


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Special Permit No 16868 (Capture handle radio-collar and monitor for research and education purposes) Page 3 of 3

dnr letter to bear researcher lynn rogers

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