Park ranger shares tragic picture of mama bear standing over her cub after it was hit by a car
Yosemite National Park shared the heartbreaking account of a black bear finding her dead cub after it was run over by a car.
The tragedy was labelled as “routine” by an anonymous park ranger, who appealed to park visitors to be mindful of the animals that call the park home.
Due to the pandemic favouring socially distanced activities, the United States’ national parks have since become popular leisure destinations. May 2021 marked the busiest month on record for Yosemite National Park.
According to the Keep Bears Wild campaign, “dozens of black bears are struck by vehicles each year” and it’s one of the causes of deaths for bears in the park. Four-hundreed bears have died in road collisions since 1995, according to the group.
Along with the image of the grieving mother bear, the park ranger wrote in a caption, “We get this call a lot. Too much, to be honest. ‘Bear hit by vehicle, dead on the side of the road.’ Sadly, it’s become routine.”
The park ranger believed that the incident took place around noon, but they were not notified about it until 4pm and were not able to find the animal until 5pm on 16 July.
“I try to remember how many times I’ve done this now and, truthfully, I don’t know. This is not what any of us signs up for, but it’s a part of the job nonetheless,” the post said.
The post continued, “I let out a deep sigh and continue on with my task.I pick up the cub – it couldn’t be much more than 25 pounds – and begin carrying it off into the woods. I have no certain destination; I’m just walking until I can no longer hear the hiss of the road behind me.”
“Every year we report the number of bears that get hit by vehicles, but numbers don’t always paint a picture. I want people to see what I saw: the sad reality behind each of these numbers,” the post read.
Last week, Colorado National Parks posted a video on their Facebook page of a bear rescued after getting chicken feeder stuck on its head.
The post’s caption read, “Thanks to the residents that reported seeing it, wildlife officers were able to catch up with the bear and safely remove the bucket. It’s now back to roaming the mountains free of the obstruction.”
According to The Denver Channel, the bear was able to break into someone’s backyard and steal the food, prompting the Colorado Parks and Wildlife to advise all local residents to lock up food supplies properly.
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