Poor Bear

Mama bear shot guarding cubs
She had been feeding at arcade Dumpster

May 08. 2007 8:00AM

Two bear cubs were orphaned over the weekend after a Laconia police officer mistakenly shot their mother, based on reports that she was hit by a car.

The bear shot Saturday had frequented the land behind Funspot at Weirs Beach for months, picking though trash to feed herself and her babies. Bears are a common sight in the Lakes Region this time of year, especially where food-laden Dumpsters abut wooded hillsides.

The Laconia police say the officer acted to protect himself and Funspot patrons. Fish and Game officials and Funspot owners doubt the bear was dangerous, but they blame miscommunication, not the police, for her death. They hope the incident provides a lesson about bears' springtime habits.

"We're very sad about it," said Funspot owner Sandra Lawton. "But we really want to turn it around."

The police learned about the bear late Saturday morning when Funspot employees called to report that a bear had been injured by a passing car. Lt. William Clary said an officer, whose name he wouldn't release, arrived at the arcade and walked toward the bear, which was motionless at the base of a tall tree.

The officer, he said, didn't notice any cubs as he approached the animal. He got within 15 yards of the tree and the bear moved.
"That's when he took the shot," Clary said. "He was afraid the bear was going into the parking lot."

Fish and Game officials knew the Laconia police were investigating reports of an injured bear, but they couldn't immediately send a Fish and Game officer because of a double drowning in Gilmanton that kept them busy for much of the day. When they learned the animal was dead, officers contacted Andrew Timmins, the department's bear project leader.

The bear, Timmins said, didn't appear to have been injured before she was shot and had stuck close to the tree to protect her cubs.

"We call them 'nurse trees,' " he said. "The sow (female bear) will put the cubs up a tree where they're safe and take a nap. The cops saw the bear there and thought that because she wasn't getting up and moving, she'd been run over."

It took more than a day to coax the cubs down from the tree after their mother's death. The babies are heavy for their age, about 12 pounds each, and will likely be released into the wild in late summer, Timmins said. Until then, they're receiving care from a wildlife rehabilitation expert up north.

Timmins called the shooting a "poor decision based on a lack of understanding about bear behavior."

"My intent here is not to hang the Laconia Police Department out to dry," he said. "I just want to try to get some understanding of what's going on down there. These businesses need to be more responsible about their trash."

He said Dumpsters should be covered with heavy, bear-proof lids. Fish and Game offers lots of other tips on making neighborhoods unattractive to bears, including trash disposal tricks and loaner equipment, such as electric fences.

"They're complex animals," Timmins said. "Even we don't know everything about them. If you have concerns, call Fish and Game."

Yesterday, Lawton was updating folks on the cubs' welfare and researching new trash receptacles to help prevent a similar incident in years to come.

"Our Dumpster right now is an open Dumpster, which is the same as giving them a buffet," she said. "I'm no bear expert, but I know they'll go to the easiest food there is."