Prior posts: Should we protect wildlife even when it threatens us?
Ok, where are the bite and scratch marks. The last I heard most cops spoke dumb, but not to much bear.
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Unless you feel it would have been safe to walk around in one’s own yard with the bear nearby, and to let your children play while the bear was around, there WAS a threat. You don’t have to have been wounded by the bear for there to be a threat. I live in Lewisville, just west of Winston-Salem. Winston is no place for a bear to be hanging around. It is very urban. Chief Cunningham was right to take out the bear. (Full disclosure: Scott is a friend of mine, and comes across as a thoughtful guy, not a shoot from the hip type.)
And I live very close to bears and never give them a thought, if you do not corner them they are no threat. Jump and yell and a black bear will run and climb the nearest big tree and/or just run off.