Alaska prosecutes man who feeds wild bears Charlie Vandergaw's love of bears landed him on a recent Animal Planet series -- and in trouble with the law.
Vandergaw's knack for winning the animals' trust was showcased in a documentary made last year by a British filmmaker at Vandergaw's remote Alaska cabin and aired as part of Animal Planet's series "Stranger Among Bears." The videos show Vandergaw scratching the belly of one black bear as if it was the family dog, feeding a cookie to a large black bear sitting under a tree, and feeding dog kibble to a cub from his outstretched hand.
Vandergaw has been coexisting with bears this way for the last 20 years, and he wants to be left alone.
That is not likely to happen now that the state is using a beefed-up law to prosecute Vandergaw for feeding bears. Game officials consider feeding bears a danger to humans, especially if others duplicate the behavior.
"Game officials consider feeding bears a danger to humans" I can see their point but, where is this happening?
Sean Farley, a research biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, denies that Vangergaw prompted the stiffer penalties. Farley, who helped troopers serve a search warrant last year on Vandergaw's cabin, about 50 miles northwest of Anchorage, said bears there had be scared off with "cracker shots" that make a loud noise when fired.
And:
The state has seized the plane that he normally would use to reach the cabin, Bear Haven, which isn't accessible by road. According to charging documents, the plane was used to transport dog food to the cabin.
This is happening 50 miles away from the city, at a cabin that is only accessible by airplane. Seriously WTF???
A bit more:
Farley said there is a psychological component to Vandergaw's behavior with the bears. "They are associating with Charlie only because of the food. That association is fulfilling some psychological need for Charlie," he said.
Right -- our dogs only associate with us because we feed them.
This Farley idiot is a research biologist and works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and he is completely blind to the wonderful interactions you can have with a critter. He needs to be reassigned to a job more suited to his levels of perception. Get him a bucket of nails, a hammer and a couple pieces of 2X4 and let him sit in a corner and pound nails all day...
Vandergaw realizes the risks and has chosen to build a friendship with these wonderful creatures. That is his choice and his responsibility. If I was in the same living situation, I would be doing the same thing.
The video is a trailer for a television show and is a bit over the top but it does show Charlie having a wonderful relationship with a number of different bears.
The article also makes reference to being Treadwelled -- a reference to Timothy Treadwell who tried to make friends with some Grizzly Bears and got killed for his troubles. There are a lot of different stories about Treadwell but the overall picture is that he was a very troubled person (drug and alcohol addictions) and should never have been out with the bears.
Posted by DaveH at May 24, 2009 8:07 PM