Latest news with #hunters
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The South Is Having Second Thoughts About Trading Pine Trees for Solar Panels
PERRY, Ga.—Hunters, botanists, residents worried about water quality and people citing Scripture lined up to oppose the installation of 2,100 acres of solar panels next to a wildlife preserve. But it was the plight of the local black bears that doomed the proposal from Silicon Ranch, one of the South's largest solar operators.
CBS News
6 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Bear attacks and critically injures woman walking her dog in Slovenia forest
Bear that attacked multiple people in Slovakia seen running across yard A woman was in critical condition on Wednesday after a bear attack in a forested area outside Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, police said. The attack on Tuesday occurred at the edge of the forest in Skofljica, some 6 miles southeast of the capital, as the woman was walking her dog, police said. The bear retreated into the forest after the attack and police have advised local residents to stay away and be cautious. "There are several hunters in the field at the same time, who are responsible for possibly deterring bears from points where contact with humans could occur," police said. "If it is necessary to increase the number of hunters in the field, we will do so." The incident came just days after authorities approved the culling of 206 brown bears, whose population in the area has grown to around 1,000 bears. The small Alpine nation of just over 2 million people is widely forested with many protected nature zones. Authorities occasionally approve bear or wolf culls despite strong opposition from animal rights groups. Two bear attacks on people were recorded in 2022, according to Slovenia's official STA news agency. European brown bear (Ursus arctos), in the Notranjska forest, Slovenia, in a 2021 file photo. Sergio Pitamitz/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The nation of Slovakia, to the northeast, has also grappled with a surging brown bear population as well as attacks on humans. Last month, lawmakers approved a plan to shoot about 350 brown bears in Slovakia after a man was mauled to death while walking in a forest there, the BBC reported. In 2024, a woman died in Slovakia after being chased by a bear through dense forest and mountainous terrain.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Myth or mystery: are moose roaming the isolated wilds of New Zealand?
Over 100 years ago, a ship dropped anchor in the frigid fjords of New Zealand's South Island and released 10 nervous moose on to the shore. The crew watched as the animals – the last survivors of a weeks-long voyage from Saskatchewan, Canada – skittered out of their crates and up into the dense, lonely, rainforest. The moose had arrived on a flight of fancy, as part of the then premier's grand vision to turn Fiordland national park into a hunters' paradise. It was the second attempt to release moose into the region – in a country whose only native land-based mammals are bats – after nearly all of an earlier herd died crossing the seas. Red deer and wapiti, or elk, were also released around the same time for game-hunting. Over the next few years, moose sightings were reported and photographs of their hulking frames lying dead next to hunters occasionally graced the pages of local newspapers. The last confirmed sighting was in 1951, after which, they were pronounced extinct. Yet in the decades since, there have been clues that the animals remain in New Zealand. People have found footprints too large to be deer, branches 7 to 8 feet high broken and stripped of their leaves, fur snagged in trees and cast antlers. There have also been numerous unconfirmed sightings of moose. Seventy-five years on from the last confirmed photograph, New Zealanders are still hunting moose – not for their heads, but for answers to an enduring mystery that has captured the public imagination for decades: are the elusive beasts still roaming the vast Fiordland wilds? Or is this just another myth of many projected on to the eerie, isolated terrain? That question came one step closer to being answered in March, when within two weeks of one another two hiking groups from the US and Canada reported seeing moose while tramping along Fiordland's Kepler Track, sparking a new flurry of national interest. Ken Tustin, a biologist, former helicopter pilot and hunter who is more widely known as New Zealand's 'moose man' has been tracking moose for more than 40 years – half his lifetime. In 1995 he captured grainy footage on a trail camera of what he believes is a moose and in 2002, a tuft of fur he found snagged on a tree was confirmed to be moose through DNA testing at a Canadian university. It is tempting to draw comparisons between the moose mystery and the quests for Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness monster but Tustin says moose are in 'quite a different category', given they were introduced. 'The existence [of moose] is so extraordinary, it seems unbelievable. But we ask people, before you dismiss it, please look to the evidence.' Canadian Antoine Beauchamp says there was no mistaking the large animal, which crossed their path 10 metres away during their hike. 'All three of us had the same thought: that this is a moose,' Beauchamp said, adding that his hiking party regularly see moose at home, sometimes in their own back yards. 'The colour was very distinctive, it had a big shoulder bump which is not common for red deer or wapiti … this, combined with the height of the animal, it was clear it was a moose.' Without photographic evidence, the department of conservation is sceptical moose still exist. When the most recent sightings emerged, its Te Anau-based operations manager John Lucas said until there was proof, the department would 'continue to take the view that we are most likely dealing with a deer … or possibly a red/wapiti cross that has been mistaken for a moose.' Moose are larger than red deer and wapiti, and unlike the latter two species, which have tree-like antlers, moose have broad flat antlers that fan out into finger-like edges. Moose are typically dark brown, red deer are reddish-brown in summer and grey in winter, while wapiti are fawn-coloured with a rump patch. Moose are typically solitary, while red deer and wapiti tend to move in herds. 'In some respects, if someone actually gets a photo, that might be quite disappointing – the mystery would be solved,' Lucas says. 'There is a saying that the presence of absence is not necessarily the absence of presence and that will endure until someone actually takes a photograph.' Fiordland is New Zealand's largest national park and forms a major part of a Unesco world heritage site. Its rainforest, ragged mountains, glassy fjords and lakes draw tourists to its famous hikes, while its dramatic and mostly inaccessible terrain is a perfect canvas for mythology and rumour. For over a century, stories abounded of a lost Māori tribe living in Fiordland, while some people believed the moa – a large flightless bird that went extinct hundreds of years ago – stalked the vast valleys into the late 1800s. 'Fiordland is always the locus for this sort of stuff,' says Charlie Mitchell, a senior journalist for The Press who has covered the moose story for years. 'We sort of need Fiordland to be this locus of mystery, because otherwise we have to accept that we've managed to survey everything, we've found everything.' Sometimes, species deemed extinct have reemerged, such as the takahē, another large flightless bird as round and blue as Earth, which was rediscovered in Fiordland in 1948, 50 years after the last sighting. Mitchell says the odds of moose following in the footsteps of takahē are extremely low, but not zero. 'That's what makes it frustrating and compelling at the same time … as long as that [chance] is there, I think there will be people still searching for the moose.' Tustin concedes he may never find a moose but seeing one is almost besides the point. 'I love that moose have taken on an almost spiritual element in Fiordland,' he says. 'When I think of Fiordland … I think rain on the smooth water, diminishing ridges, hanging cloud, ferns bobbing under the rain. It's mood, its mystery, and my goodness, a moose fits in there beautifully.'
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Florida approves first black bear hunt in 10 years, sparking debate
Florida wildlife officials gave preliminary approval Wednesday for the first black bear hunt since one 10 years ago that was halted early after more than 300 bears were killed in only two days. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 at a meeting in Ocala in favor of a bear hunt in December and annually into the future, allowing the use of up to six dogs to corner the bears. Methods could include bowhunting, similar to rules for hunting deer, and bear hunting in baited areas. A final vote is scheduled in August. The commission staff says the goal is to "begin managing population growth" for bears, which number about 4,000 in Florida. "Managing population growth is important to balance species numbers with suitable habitat and maintain a healthy population," the staff report says. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods, whose fast-growing county hosted the meeting, said his office has received 107 calls about bear encounters with humans over the past nine months — likely only a fraction of actual encounters because many rural residents don't report them. Woods said he supports the hunt. "It needs to be regulated and it should be regulated. I think we keep not only our citizens safe but the state of Florida's citizens safe," Woods told the commission. Clashing views on hunting and conservation Several hunters and representatives of outdoors groups urged the commission to approve the hunt, noting Florida is one of only six states with significant black bear populations that does not allow it. "Bear is a game species. It's time for us to have some level of bear hunt," said Travis Thompson, executive director at the All Florida conservation organization. Hunt opponents contend there isn't enough scientific evidence to justify killing bears and the most reasonable approach is to convince people in Florida's ever-sprawling developments to secure garbage and take other non-lethal steps to limit human-bear conflicts. "I implore you to not allow the slaughter of these majestic animals we have in Florida," said Leslie Carlile, an opponent whose family goes back several generations in Florida. "Trophy hunting is pure evil in my opinion." The FWC has received more than 13,000 online comments about the proposal, about three-quarters of them opposed. At Wednesday's meeting, 170 people signed up to speak on both sides of the issue. Hunt opponent Janet Osborne told the commission it would "take a step backward" by approving the bear proposal. "The problem is the overpopulation of people," she said. Among other things, supporters of the hunt point to a black bear's extremely rare, fatal attack earlier this month on 89-year-old Robert Markel and his dog in a rural part of Collier County, in southwest Florida. Bears are also frequently seen in neighborhoods that stretch into their habitat, one even wandering onto Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 2023. In the 2015 hunt, hunting permits were for anyone who could pay for them, leading to a chaotic event that was shut down days early. The 300-plus bears killed then included at least 38 females with cubs, meaning the little bears probably died too. This time, the plan is to have a random, limited drawing of permits with a limit of 187. Hunters could kill only one bear each and only in certain parts of Florida where the bear population is large enough. There would be no killing of cubs and none of females with cubs, according to the FWC staff. A permit would cost $100 for a Florida resident and $300 for a nonresident. For 2025, the plan is to hold the hunt from Dec. 6 to Dec. 28. In the future, the FWC foresees a bear hunt between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, subject to more studies about the effect of hunting and the population of the animals. Private landowners with 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) or more could hold what the FWC calls a "bear harvest program" on their property under the proposal. Bears could be hunted at bait feeding stations on private property.
CBC
18-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Moose aren't a native Newfoundland species — but they were brought here to save one
Moose were imported to the island in 1904 to support a species in decline Forest denizen, highway hazard, hunters' trophy, a freezer full of meat — the moose plays many roles in Newfoundland. With an estimated 125,000 animals, about one for every four human residents, the island is home to the most concentrated population of moose in North America. Though today they seem to be everywhere, moose haven't always been here. Legend has it they were introduced in 1904 to serve as a food animal in a place with few other local sources of meat. The truth is a bit more complicated. Moose were brought to Newfoundland to protect one of the island's native mammals: the caribou. At the turn of the 20th century, there were serious concerns that caribou populations were in decline. The Newfoundland Railway had opened up the island's interior, and the tracks crossed seasonal caribou migration routes. Hunters, many of them lured from abroad by the near-guarantee of bagging a buck, set up camps along the railroad and shot into the herds as they passed, killing hundreds of animals. If caribou numbers dwindled, it would deprive Newfoundlanders of one of their main sources of winter fare. According to journalist P. T. McGrath, caribou shared "with the all-prevailing codfish the duty of keeping alive the coast folk who are shut off from the outer world by the unpenetrable [sic] ice barrier which then covers the North Atlantic." It wasn't just the inhabitants of the outports who relied on venison over the winter. Some of the caribou hunted in the island's interior were sold and shipped to St. John's, providing rural hunters with off-season income and residents of the capital with cheap local meat. Caribou could be purchased in the city for as little as two or three cents a pound — around one sixth the cost of beef, which was heavily tariffed. To protect this natural resource, the Newfoundland government passed the Act for the Preservation of Deer in the spring of 1902. The act increased the cost of hunting licenses for foreign sportsmen and lowered the number of caribou they could harvest. It shortened the hunting season and banned killing caribou with dogs or while the animals were fording water. To support these new hunting restrictions, the government agreed on one last measure. They would import a breeding stock of moose from the Canadian mainland. The idea seems to have been that introducing a second species of deer would lighten the hunting pressure on caribou. Moose were chosen because their habits and habitat are distinctly different from those of caribou, making it unlikely the two would compete for food. Plus, adding another large game animal would increase the island's appeal as a "sportsman's paradise," a reputation that attracted valuable tourist dollars to Newfoundland's small economy. An earlier attempt to introduce moose had been made in 1875 at the request of a group of St. John's sportsmen, but the two animals imported at that time had apparently failed to breed. In 1903, to increase the odds of success, the government asked the province of New Brunswick for seven moose. The animals, each weighing in between 270 and 550 kilograms, would have to be brought out of the New Brunswick wilderness alive. In a time before tranquillizers, the task would require a good deal of ingenuity and a keen understanding of moose behaviour. Newfoundland tapped John Connell from Bartibog, N.B. for the job. Already a respected outdoorsman, Connell would become famous in the Miramichi Valley not just for hunting moose, but for taming them. For a reward of $50 per moose, the equivalent of a few thousand dollars today, Connell and a group of neighbours snowshoed into the woods in March 1904. Moose, he reasoned, would be easiest to trap in winter, when they had lost weight from scarce grazing and would flounder in the deep snow. When the men came upon a moose, they would run it down until it was exhausted, then fence it in so it could be lassoed and brought out by horse-drawn sled. Connell had a close call during the hunt when a big bull moose rushed him, knocking him over. The moose reared up and was lassoed by one of his companions just before its hoof came down on his head. Connell made it out alive but was hospitalized for 10 days with his injuries. Once the seven moose ordered by the Newfoundland government had been successfully captured, they were loaded onto a train to North Sydney, but not all of them survived the trip. A cow and a bull died on the way from fright or — by another account — indigestion, and a second cow died giving birth to a calf as the animals waited at North Sydney to cross the Cabot Strait. The remaining four moose, two bulls and two cows, were ferried to Newfoundland, where another train took them inland. The Western Star reported that "at all the stopping points crowds gathered around the car and viewed with wonder the strange animals." The moose were released on a government deer preserve near Howley where they would be protected from hunters for several years until the species had a chance to establish itself. This time, on an island with few natural predators and no deadly parasites, the moose flourished. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to safeguard the caribou. Of the estimated 150,000 to 200,000 that roamed the island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as few as 2,000 remained by the 1930s. Today, Newfoundland's caribou number roughly 30,000, and some hunters are worried it's moose that are on the decline. But don't expect an influx of bison to bolster them. Provincial regulations now prohibit the release of imported wildlife into the Newfoundland ecosystem, leaving this conservation method firmly in the past.
