US hiker given warning for rescuing 'abandoned' bear cub

[iscooterliberally]

Source: BBC News

A hiker in the US has avoided criminal charges after rescuing what appeared to be an abandoned black bear cub from an Oregon trail.
Corey Hancock, 41, spotted the bear lying on his back alone when returning from a hike on Monday evening.
He said he believes the malnourished bear cub's mother had purposefully left him or been shot by hunters.
It was initially suggested he could face charges for removing the cub from his habitat.
"I hid behind a tree and made sure there wasn't a Momma bear anywhere," he said.
After the cub stopped moving entirely, he took the decision to "pack him up and make a run for the car" - wrapping the cub up in his flannel shirt.


Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39447989#

[Warpy]

1. If it was malnourished, it most likely had been abandoned

by a mother bear who couldn't continue to feed herself, let alone a cub. Smart mama bear, though, leaving it on a hiking trail.

[iscooterliberally]

2. I agree with the hiker for rescuing the bear.

I think I would have done the same thing. I'm glad the little one recovered and I hope it all turns out well.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Ditto.

[Bradical79]

4. Not sure what I'd do

But my general rule is don't mess with wildlife. Contact the professionals.

[Break time]

5. He did right

Had one like that here at my place, no momma and malnourished ha ODFW pick it up but it didn't make it...sometimes the mother will give birth and they get to a certain point and maybe she doesn't wake up and cubs wander off, sometime mother dies in her den and cubs are out wandering around they usually don't make it..

[Crash2Parties]

6. Isn't that the way evolution is supposed to work?

Not trying to sound harsh - I have a super soft spot for baby animals and I am not completely sure what I would do in the situation - but sometimes immature animals that are dying are doing so *because* of genes that should not be passed on. When that is the case saving them can set up a time bomb generations down the line with recessive traits or ones that only have a negative effect in concert with (an)other gene(s). Or even the very next generation. What if saving that cub allows him to sire a dozen cubs, all of which die the way he would have? One of those ethics questions not unsimilar to the classic runaway train problem, I guess.

[uncle ray]

7. he did NOT do the right thing.

wild animals "rescued" like this are often euthanized after their rescue, it's either kill them or they will have to be kept in captivity for the rest of their lives. once the bear cub gets comfortable around people, if you try to reintroduce the cub to the wild, he will again try to approach people. if this person cared about the animal, he should have called a ranger, game warden, etc.

[uppityperson]

8. Did you read the article? It was dying, unresponsive, there was no phone service. He did CPR

"He was totally unresponsive: I tried tickling his feet, messing with his ears and he didn't move at all."
Mr Hancock says he gave the cub CPR then drove 20 minutes to get mobile phone signal on the highway - all with the bear struggling to breathe in his arms.

[uppityperson]

9. I'm glad he avoided criminal charges and glad he saved this bear's life.

[GulfCoast66]

10. We are supposed to be a fact based community

And I guess we are until emotion overrides the facts.

For some reason the sow abandoned the cub. It happens. Nature is cruel and the cub should have been left alone.

We hate it when the greedy screw with nature for profit. But nature can also be screwed for seemingly good causes as well.

For all we know the sow sensed a defect in the cub and abandoned it.

[LanternWaste]

13. What specific and objective facts were being over-ridden?

What specific and objective facts were being over-ridden?

[coti]

16. The hiker said, themselves, that the cub was dying. Death is a pretty objective and final "fact"

that was interfered with and over-ridden by the hiker's actions.

Real naturalists know that individual people have to resist the urge to "help" animals in their own, natural dire straits in the wild. Leave it as you found it.

[GulfCoast66]

18. Did you read the article?

While hiking in the wilderness area a man found a dying bear cub. Those things happen in wilderness areas. But rather than respecting nature and it's beauty and often cruelty he chose to see the situation through the eyes of man.

And now we have a bear that will live its life pretty much no different then a circus bear. It will exist to entertain and make us feel so good about ourselves. That some guy violated the law to save the poor cub.

Or perhaps we can spend thousands of very rare dollars to find a way to reacclimate this not endangered animal to the wild.

Many people choose to see wild animals no different than their house cat or their precious dog and they want wild animals treated the same way as their loved companions. Liberals are just as guilty of this as conservatives.

If returned to the wild this bear will kill and eat countless cute, adorable elk calfs. With big glassy eyes and a beautiful calls sounding just like Bambi. Should we interfere to save them as well?

I have respect for people who find this difficult. But nature is nature.

Have a nice evening.

[aikoaiko]

11. Not a good idea to mess with the circle of life with bears.

Even if it was true that the bear was abandoned and dying.

[Xolodno]

12. Tough call...

ODFW states explicitly that you should leave it there, contact them and let their professionals handle it. Unless you explicitly see the mother die. Think a warning was appropriate here.

http://dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/rehabilitation/index.asp

It will probably end up permanently at a rescue facility or zoo. Not the ideal situation, but with humans encroaching more and more into their habitat and destroying the environment they need to survive....

[smirkymonkey]

14. Poor little thing!

[Sunlei]

15. He's lucky an upset mama bear wasn't within scenting range.

[haele]

17. If it was emaciated and barely breathing, Momma probably hadn't been around for days.

Probably was abandoned. Back when my family used to go hiking over spring break (1960's/70's), we'd occasionally find abandoned wildlife babies - mostly recently dead by the time we found them - that obviously had been left to die. Not killed by predators, but emaciated. Most had some obvious disability, either in the legs or around the jaw or muzzle area. Nature isn't always "nice" about critters that need help to survive. I remember we brought back a couple - an emaciated kit with a twisted muzzle and what I think was a baby marmoset that were in bad shape to the Ranger's station. I remember the rangers just put the kit out of its misery.

If there was something physically wrong that kept the baby from keeping up with momma or siblings, it would have been abandoned.

Haele