Love, respect for bears

Dear editor:
I am writing in response to last week’s article about the “district man taking care of bears.”
Wildlife sanctuaries provide much-needed refuge for endangered animals. Highly-educated biologists assess the health and status of wildlife populations. The American black bear (the bear common to our area) is not considered to be at risk.
Bears are opportunistic omnivores who eat whatever they happen to come upon. What would happen if a bear from Mr. Scheibler’s “sanctuary” approached someone who did not consider him or herself to be a bear whisperer?
This bear, who has now become accustomed to receiving tasty food treats directly from people, likely would be deemed aggressive (as it would show no fear of people) or a nuisance at the very least. The bear then could end up being relocated into another bear’s territory or euthanized for the sake of public safety.
Is this taking care of the bear?
The Lord created this natural world with incredible design and it functions remarkably well without human intervention. If Mr. Scheibler wants to help the bears, perhaps he should respect God’s work and resist the temptation to feed and play with them.
Mr. Scheibler could help to increase the amount of food available to bears by discouraging people from picking and selling gallons and gallons of wild blueberries (a major food source for bears).
He also could convert his motocross track to bicycles, thus reducing extraneous carbon emissions and the melting of polar ice, which is threatening the polar bear—a species of special concern.
Sincerely,
Shari Reynolds