Research Bear May Have Been Killed

Lily the black bear's daughter, 1 year old Hope, may have been shot by a hunter. Dr.rogers can not find her - and fears the worse. Killing Hope would be the worst of all scenarios, because she was the most loved and watched of all the research bears. Hope is the cub who millions of viewers watched being born live on the internet, who was then abandoned by her mother, only to be reunited with with her mother later in the year, after living months on her own as a cub.
 
If a hunter shot her, it will be extremely bad forhe hunting community, and with the public outrage, I would not want to be that hunter. It appears some hunter set up a bait pile, near or in, Lily's and Hope's home range, probably knowing full well which bears weres using that area. And they might have done it with the hopes of killing either Lily or Hope. It this is true, they probably did it in a misguided effort to gain some fame or notoriety. If someonr actually kills Hope or Lily, they will be viewed at as "nototius", in the worst sense of the word, by millions of people around the world, and by teh citizens of theStateof Minnesota, including the hunters. 

They should be viewed that way by all hunters, especialy all Minnesota Hunters, unless (and this is a far stretch) Hope slipped her collar and they did not know that a one to two year old sized bear - in that area - was in all likelyhood - Hope.  

I'm waiting to hear more from bear researcher Dr. Lynn Rogers, and will post his comments as soon as I get them.

God bless,

T.R.