Two bears were unjustly executed in July after a man from out of state claimed that a bear had clawed into his tent and bitten him. Although the hospital only found “claw marks” and “light punctures” that did not require stitches, and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer called the minimal damage “miraculous,” they killed the bear who did it anyway.
In fact, when two different bears were implicated by two different U.S. Wildlife Service hounds, they decided to kill both bears to have an “abundance of caution” and “to give the victim some closure.”
Yet the real victims in this story, the two bears, were killed without an opportunity to have their perspectives considered.
One bear did nothing. The other did very little. The Durango Herald’s article (“Two bears euthanized after man attacked while camping near Pagosa Springs,” July 25) failed to consider the bears’ right to life.
Humans’ aren’t the only lives worth protecting. The rights of nature movement defends the rights of animals, ecosystems, trees and rivers to exist, flourish and naturally evolve. It understands that the natural world has a relevance, a magnificence, even a sentience.
Humans must grow the heart and imagination to perceive our inherent connection to the natural world, and develop the propensity to act justly, to respect nature rather than destroy it. We must unlearn what our dominant culture teaches and rediscover how to listen to nature, as humans have known how to do for the majority of time we have existed on the planet.
Rebecca L.K. Wildbear
Durango
