That is pretty sickening to see, and even worse to think about all the non hunters being exposed to that video all over the internet right now. I in no way condone their actions, and think that they should have lost their hunting rights for life, but most people don't realize that kind of "hunting" has been and is legal in certain parts of Alaska. The ADF&G does pretty good job of keeping quiet about their methods of predator control.
One of the most disturbing wildlife related videos/pictures that I have ever seen were taken during one of Alaskas Intensive Predator Control Programs. A couple of pilots I know were involved and told me how disgusted they were with the whole thing. They spent a couple weeks flying the control zone with helicopters and super cubs in the spring. Every bear that they found was shot with a shotgun out of the helicopters. This included all sows and cubs. Often, when a sow was shot, the cubs would hide in the brush. The sow was skinned and the hide draped over a log or rock. Later that day they would fly back and often the cubs would be snuggled up in their dead mothers fur. One of the videos I saw was of two of those cubs being killed while trying to claw back under their dead mother. Seems kind of hypocritical for ADF&G to do those kinds of things, then make a big deal about these two morons.
A couple of quotes I found with quick search online.
"Next,
the board legalized using artificial lights to rouse hibernating black bears from their dens so that hunters could shoot them as they emerged. Native elders in interior Alaska had asked for the right to use the practice ritually, as their ancestors had before firearms made it easier to challenge bears in the open.
But because state law forbids discriminating between hunters, the board opened the practice to everyone – and tried to extend it into parts of Gates of the Arctic and Denali national preserves."
The federal government pushes back as the state ramps up predator control.
www.hcn.org
"At that same March meeting, BOG amended the predator control implementation plan in Game Management Unit 16B (Upper Cook Inlet) to include a black bear control compo- nent. Bear predation on young moose calves was claimed to
be limiting growth of the moose population in this area. The Unit 16B black bear population was estimated by extrapolat- ing densities obtained in nearby aerial censuses in spring 2003. The extrapolations were variously presented by ADF&G as 1,376 to 1,574 bears in May 2006, 1,183 to 2,402 bears
in March 2007, and 1,500 to 2,000 bears in the final plan approved by the BOG. The plan’s objective was to reduce
the bear population to 600. This would involve taking up to 1,400 black bears from the area.
Under the terms of a predator control permit, hunters could take any bear, including cubs and sows with cubs, all with no bag limit. Bear-baiting restric- tions were eased, hunters could take bears the same day they were airborne and the sale of hides was allowed."
www.ktuu.com
