Yosemite Bear Killed, 2 Cubs Removed
Death of problem 250-pound female raises outrage, but park officials defend their actions as necessary for safety.

by Mark Grossi
The Fresno Bee - June 15, 2001

A federal wildlife biologist gave a lethal injection early Thursday to Eenie, the black bear that Yosemite Valley tourists watched all day Wednesday as she and her cubs swayed in an 80-foot tree.

Eenie’s two offspring were captured and sent to the California Department of Fish and Game in Sacramento for possible placement in a wildlife rehabilitation center.

Thus ended the story of a problem animal that has been raiding Yosemite National Park campgrounds since the mid-1990s, growing bolder each year and teaching her cubs to do the same, park officials say.

But it was hardly the end of the debate over bears and humans in Yosemite.
Officials received many calls and questions Thursday about the animal, which was viewed by hundreds of people at Lower Pines Campground in the incense cedar tree. People were openly told the bear had to be destroyed.
Media reports also spurred comment.

"I am outraged to think these creatures of God are driven from their home and denied their rights," said Anna V. Phillips, 73, of Clovis. "That forest is their home, not ours, and we have no right to kill them so we can enjoy ourselves."

Others say park officials should be more diligent about writing citations to visitors who store their food improperly, which is an invitation for wild creatures to develop bad behavior.

People can be cited and fined $35 for the violation. Park officials said citations are written and fines have been levied, but officials prefer to talk with visitors and help them correct their food storage mistakes.
One Clovis resident, Jennifer Moore, 29, said "euthanasia" is the wrong word for the killing of Eenie. She said euthanasia means "mercy killing" to her.
"This is more of a murder or a death sentence," she said. "I’m distraught over this."

National Park Service officials answer that the killing is justified, no matter how it is labeled.

They say the debate received a sharper edge this season after a black bear killed a woman last year in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Fatal incidents are rare in human-black bear encounters, but the bears can be dangerous
.
There have been no deaths caused by black bears at Yosemite, and officials want to keep it that way.

"We have to make difficult decisions before someone is hurt," said Yosemite Superintendent David Mihalic. "We need to break the chain of this behavior in bears. It may be hard to understand, but we are saving the lives of those cubs."

Eenie, whose mother was destroyed in 1995 as one of the most aggressive sows in memory at Yosemite, had broken into three vehicles early Wednesday. To elude authorities, she and the cubs climbed a tree, where they remained throughout the day.

By about 9:30 p.m., Eenie came down and was "darted" by authorities to put her to sleep. Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said the unconscious bear was placed at the bottom of the tree to lure down the cubs.
One cub was captured, but the other escaped again and scrambled up another tree, Gediman said. Authorities captured the second cub about 2:30 a.m. when it finally came down.

The cubs will be evaluated by state officials and probably placed in a wildlife rehabilitation center, then released into the wild in a year.

The unconscious, 250-pound mother bear was injected with succinylcholine, a paralytic drug causing respiratory and heart functions to shut down almost immediately, said park biologist Steve Thompson.
The bear’s body was disposed of by leaving it to natural elements in the park’s wilderness.

The bear’s mother and grandmother had acquired a taste for human food and taught their offspring to raid cars, campsites and picnic areas for higher-calorie human food instead of foraging in the wild.

"Eenie had been relocated eight times," Thompson said. "Each time, it came back from as far away as 40 miles."

In the last couple years, Eenie had begun appearing at campgrounds in broad daylight and "bluff charging" to scare people away from food, Thompson said.

Why not just capture these problem animals and donate them to a zoo? Because zoos have a glut of black bears, and they are not needed, Thompson said.

So bear-human incidents are likely to continue, officials said. Bear-management activities have helped officials greatly reduce the incidents since 1998, dropping from 1,590 to 654 last year. Officials credit a campaign to raise public awareness of food-storage practices.

"Yosemite Valley is excellent habitat for bears," said spokesman Gediman. "But it is also a great place for people to visit. We need to understand how we’re affecting the bears."