A black bear at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park was trapped and then provided with a lethal injection after park rangers failed to scare it, as it kept roaming the visitor’s center, posing a threat to nearby tourists.
The two-year-old male black bear raided a cooler that was on the backside of a Jeep, which probably led it to think that he could find more food in the proximity.
Las Friday it was stated by park ranger Chris Healy that the bear was not behaving as normal, as bears in the area are mostly nocturnal. After raiding the food in the back of the Jeep, the bear was shot with non-lethal rounds.
The bear was killed
It seemed to work as the bear went away, but it returned an hour later and roamed the visitor’s center. Park rangers managed to scare him once again. The 150-pound bear was then determined to be dangerous and a threat to unprepared visitors.
“Outwardly it looked healthy but the behavior was troubling,” Healy stated.
Wildlife authorities tracked and trapped the bear later that afternoon.
The predator was regarded as a ‘trash bear’, but it was noted that this particular bear was much more persistent than other bears in the park.
After the bear was euthanized, an autopsy showed that it was healthy and had a good weight and size. A sample of its brain was sent to Oregon State University to determine the origin of the bear’s reckless behavior. Officials argue that they did not have a choice other than killing it, as the park has seen days where the visitor count reaches 4,000.
The danger of a bear attack
The presence of a dangerous bear meant that it was a matter of time until a lethal encounter occurred with a park visitor. Park rangers commented that it is necessary to correctly store and dispose of edible trash and food to avoid attracting bears. This is particularly important when going camping because bears have the best sense of smell of any known animal.
In perspective, a blood hound’s sense of smell is 300 times better than a human’s, while a bear’s is 2,100 times better than a human’s. Bears use their sense of smell to find mates, find food in the forest and locate their cubs. One of the things that attract bears the most are animal carcasses, which are easy sources of sustenance for these animals.
A bear’s nose is also much more developed than a human’s. They have special muscles that allow their noses to behave like fingers, which allows them to have a better idea of where does a particular smell come from. Odor-proof bags are advised for campers and tourists that are visiting bear habitats.
Regular zip lock bags are not suitable for this, as specialized bags are a thousand times more efficient than regular bags, whose smell transparency can be sensed by bears at least 20 miles apart. Although wild bears are an apparent threat for hikers, it is estimated that one is more likely to be struck by lightning than to be attacked by a bear. But this varies if the person really loves hiking in the woods.
Source: CBS