outdoors

The killing of a radio-collared research bear near Ely, Minn., over the weekend has sparked outrage and anti-hunting sentiment, even though the animal apparently was legally taken during the bear hunting season.

Department of Natural Resources officials said they aren't investigating the death of the yearling bear, which had been named Sarah by researchers who placed the collar on her neck.

"It's a legal bear, as far as we know,'' said Tom Rusch, DNR area wildlife manager in Tower, Minn. The bear's collar was left anonymously in the DNR's mailbox there. The animal is one of 14 bears fitted with radio collars by researcher Lynn Rogers at the nonprofit North American Bear Center in Ely. Some of his bears have become Internet sensations via webcams, and fans of two favorites, Lily and her cub, Hope, drove Bear Head State Park near Ely to victory in an online contest for a $100,000 grant to be announced Thursday.

Many of those same Web fans also knew of Sarah and expressed outrage over her death in online postings.

But two other bears, wearing radio collars placed by the DNR, also have been killed by hunters since the season opened Sept. 1. Officials said that's the risk of doing research on an animal that also is hunted.

"We encourage people not to shoot radio-collared bears, but we don't make it illegal because collars aren't always visible,'' said Ed Boggess, DNR policy section chief. "It's not unexpected that something like this is going to occur.''

One of 35 bears in northern Minnesota tracked with radio collars by the DNR was shot last week by a 12-year-old girl hunting for the first time with her father.

"They decided to go ahead and shoot it, even though they saw the collar,'' said Karen Noyce, a DNR bear researcher. They notified the DNR and returned the collar.

"The DNR hasn't wanted to make it illegal to shoot radio-collared bears because there is a good chance hunters in good faith just don't see the collars,'' Noyce said. "Collars get dirty, colors fade. And if it were illegal, people shooting those bears, whether they meant to or not, would be less likely to turn in the collars.''

The collars can provide valuable research information.

Although the killing of the Ely bear struck a nerve -- nearly 3,000 comments have been posted on the Ely bears' Facebook page -- for about 20 years the DNR told hunters to go ahead and shoot bears with radio collars because researchers were collecting mortality information. But objectives changed, and for the past 10 years hunters have been urged to spare collared bears. The DNR's collared bears are in four areas: near Grand Rapids, near Camp Ripley, in northwestern Minnesota and in Voyageurs National Park.

Bear hunters can legally hunt a half-hour before sunrise and a half-hour after sunset, when light conditions are poor, and bears may appear in heavy underbrush -- making it difficult to see a radio collar, Rusch said.

Sarah, the Ely bear, also had pink ribbons attached to her collar, as an extra precaution. But it's not known if those ribbons were still on the bear when she was shot. Rogers believe they were, and he doubts the shooting was accidental.

"I have no doubt this was an intentional act,'' Rogers said. "It's extremely unlikely they didn't see the collar and ribbons.'' The ribbons were still attached to the bear on Saturday, he said. The radio collar had been white but was brown from dirt, he said.

Rogers said he's not anti-hunting, but he said an ethical hunter wouldn't shoot a research bear. He said he talked to legislators last year about passing a law making the killing of a collared bear illegal, but dropped the idea after the Minnesota Bear Guides Association said it would help educate hunters. Now he says he'll probably pursue legislation again.

Dennis Udovich of Greaney, Minn., president of the guide association and a bear hunting guide for 29 years, says Sarah's shooting is unfortunate.

"Hopefully it was a mistake and the hunter didn't do it on purpose,'' he said. "All this does is throw fuel on the fire for anti-hunters.''

He doesn't allow his hunters to shoot radio-collared bears.

Udovich is also president of the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary near Orr, Minn., run by another nonprofit group that promotes bears. As at the Ely center, visitors can see black bears there.

"We need hunting as a management tool, but it has to be done right,'' Udovich said. "We need radio-collared bears, too.''

Doug Smith • 612-673-7667