‘The bear isn’t aggressive — people are. She gave a warning; we referred to as it an assault. When will we study?’ wrote Sarah Lertzman, widow of U of C professor David Lertzman
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A lady whose husband died in a 2021 encounter with the identical grizzly bear that injured a hunter final weekend has come to the defence of the bruin.
In a remark to a Postmedia article on the intense harm of a hunter in a grizzly bear encounter within the Madden space northwest of Calgary on Sunday, Sarah Lertzman expressed frustration in what she calls a human incapability to reside alongside the animals.
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Her husband, College of Calgary professor David Lertzman, 59, died on Might 4, 2021 after coming throughout a grizzly whereas jogging close to the village of Waiparous, 68 kilometres northwest of Calgary.
He was discovered lifeless after tumbling down an embankment through the incident.
This week, provincial officers issued a warning a few grizzly sow with sub-adult bears that injured a hunter within the Madden space about 45 km northwest of Calgary, including they’ve stepped up patrols within the space that embrace erecting traps in addition to looking by low-flying plane.
DNA samples from the bear — which continues to be free — linked it to the grizzly concerned within the demise of Lertzman, say Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Providers officers.
In her commentary, Sarah Lertzman stated it’s flawed to say her husband was killed by the bear, a species that ought to be higher understood and revered.
“My husband died in a defensive encounter with this bear three years in the past,” she wrote.
“Please don’t blame this or any bear for the clumsy bear interface we create with our ignorance, vanity, and apathy.”
Within the case of her husband’s demise, she stated it was recognized there was a danger in encountering bears within the Waiparous space since sows had been rising from their dens.
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“We each ought to have recognized higher, nevertheless it wasn’t an assault, nor did she kill him,” wrote Lertzman.
“He was shocked, and so they each went over an embankment, the place his head hit a tree. But, individuals insist it was an assault.”
The lady conceded she doesn’t know the specifics of the Madden incident however famous it concerned bear cubs which might counsel the sow acted defensively.
“We demonize what we are able to’t management, venturing into the wilderness looking for one thing greater than ourselves, solely to label it as aggressive once we discover it,” stated Lertzman.
“The bear isn’t aggressive — people are. She gave a warning; we referred to as it an assault. When will we study?”
Lertzman didn’t reply Thursday to a request for an interview.
Extraordinarily uncommon to hyperlink one bear to 2 incidents: skilled
A just lately retired provincial fish and sport officer who dealt with Lertzman’s case stated the person was injured by the bear on the high of the embankment, fell and struck his head on a tree and was then fatally injured by the pursuing grizzly.
The bear didn’t attempt to eat the person and there was no indication cubs had been current, stated John Clarke, who now operates a bear security consultancy within the Crowsnest Move.
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He stated the grizzly sow eluded wildlife officers then and may very well be using comparable behaviour following the incident at Madden.
“She disappeared, was nowhere to be discovered — she left that nation (round Waiparous),” stated Clarke.
“If that is her modus operandi, will she stick round? She may very well be lengthy gone.”
He stated linking one bear to 2 incidents is extraordinarily uncommon and expects the sow and its three cubs will likely be destroyed if caught, as a result of mom bear’s killing of Lertzman and concern over legal responsibility ought to the animal strike once more.
However he stated it doesn’t seem the sow was intent on killing the hunter final weekend.
“If she wished to kill him or actually harm him, he’d be in a lot worse form,” stated Clarke, who dealt with dozens of such incidents over a 35-year provincial authorities profession.
It’s frequent for bear encounter survivors to sympathize with the bruins which have injured them, he added.
“They determine ‘properly, the bear let me reside’ or ‘they simply did what a mother would do,’” stated Clarke.
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Contentious debate of grizzlies and their place in Alberta comes amid provincial evaluate of bear-protection insurance policies
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A spokeswoman with Alberta Public Security and Emergency Providers wouldn’t say if the bears can be euthanized.
“As with each investigation, Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Providers takes motion in keeping with the Grizzly Bear Response Information, which was developed to make sure efficient, constant motion when human-grizzly bear battle happens,” Sheena Campbell stated in an e mail.
Province permitting restricted hunt of grizzlies controversial
Earlier this summer time, the province introduced it was ending Alberta’s 18-year moratorium on searching grizzlies, saying a restricted hunt of drawback bears will likely be allowed.
The transfer below the Wildlife Act was made in a June 17 ministerial order by Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, which permits him to grant authorization to kill grizzlies in the event that they’re decided by wildlife officers to be habituated or to have killed livestock.
Solely bears not with cubs may be hunted, and the animals should even be in battle with people or in “an space of concern,” states the order.
The transfer has been assailed by conservationists and environmentalists who insist it defies analysis, gained’t enhance security and will reverse efforts in restoring the grizzly inhabitants.
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It comes because the bears’ threatened species standing is below evaluate by the province, a course of that has been delayed by latest turbulence inside authorities ministries, say sources.
That evaluate and the brand new hunt have been pushed not less than partly by the obvious success of the restoration plan that’s seen the grizzly inhabitants develop from between 700 and 800 in 2010, to between 900 and 1,150 now, together with these within the nationwide parks.
Some wildlife consultants say the present inhabitants numbers are possible smaller.
Clarke stated it will be folly to allow a member of the general public to search out the Waiparous-Madden grizzly.
“There’s no means they’re going to have some man chasing after this sow and cubs, they may very well be killed,” stated Clarke, who holds a dim view of the brand new searching coverage.
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