Swiss Finally Get Tough On Extremist, Militant Bears

It's about time someone had the stones to do something about the so-called "Ursines of Peace (TM)."

This article just reads funny.

Bears must stick to rules - or be shot

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The "Bear Strategy", published on Tuesday, maintains that bears and humans can co-exist peacefully but enables regional authorities to shoot-to-kill if public safety is threatened.

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Bears will now fall into three categories: "unobtrusive", "problematic" and "high-risk". A bear can be killed once it becomes "high-risk": if it is no longer scared of humans despite efforts to scare it off and if it has become aggressive towards them.

A "problematic" bear is defined as one that is not afraid of humans, starts foraging for food in residential areas or kills large numbers of livestock.

"In the case of a problematic bear we would capture it, fit it with a tracking device and try to educate it to stay away from humans and livestock. To do this, we would shoot pellets, use dogs and loud noise to try to drive the animal away when it gets close to inhabited areas," Reinhard Schnidrig, head of the hunting and game division at the Federal Environment Office, told swissinfo.

"But if the bear doesn't learn, then it becomes a risk – and as a last resort we would have to shoot it. If ever a bear became aggressive towards humans, it would immediately be shot."

A bear "moderate" calls for fellow bears to
"lay off the pic-a-nic baskets."

posted by Ace at 07:43 PM

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