Sweet Story, But Hope Is Just A Bear

I am a person who loves stories about animals. Who doesn’t?

That’s why I’ve been following the Lily the Bear story for months. When the Bear Center near Ely began live-streaming an Internet feed of Lily in labor, I tuned in.

I thought it was so cute when baby Hope was born. And when mother and cub parted ways, I followed the bear center’s updates on Facebook .

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So of course I think it’s great that the researchers found the cubs and reunited Lily and Hope.

researcher Lynn Rogers told the Duluth News Tribune . “When they saw and heard each other, the sounds that came out were unbelievable,” “You could see that she was saying, ‘I want you back little one.’ “

Definitely a real tearjerker.

But when you let go of your emotions, you realize Hope is just a bear. What if the baby bear dies? It’s sad, but is it a tragedy?

fact sheet According to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources , there are approximately 20,000 black bears in Minnesota . Legal hunting helps control the population. Losing one would not be an ecological disaster.

The Bear Center does great work… and has done a wonderful job using Lily to raise awareness of its mission , which is to “promote the long-term survival of bears worldwide by How to replace misconceptions with scientific facts about bears and their role in the ecosystem.” and their relationship with humans.”

So if Lily and Hope Saga helps more people learn to appreciate and understand black bears, that’s great. But no one should think that luring Hope out of the tree will have any significant effect on Minnesota’s black bear population.