Will photos like this be the outcome for 23 Greater Yellowstone grizzlies if Wyoming moves forward with its proposed trophy sport hunt of bears in autumn 2018? Whether one favors bear hunting or opposes it, reality cannot be ignored. Wildlife managers with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department say there is overwhelming support in the region for bringing back a bear hunt. That sentiment is set against a backdrop of other statistics: of over 650,000 public comments submitted to the US Fish and Wildlife Service on its plan to remove bears from federal protection (approved last year), the vast, vast majority expressed opposition to delisting and/or sport hunting. Recently, the National Parks Conservation Association sent a petition with 33,000 signatures to Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead opposing a sport hunt (about 400 of those coming from Wyoming residents). In 2016, a group of 250 wildlife scientists voiced opposition to delisting. And on Friday, 107 wildlife photographers (some of them prominent) sent a letter to Gov. Mead (see letter in comments section below) asserting that bears are worth far more alive than dead, main attractions in an annual nature-tourism economy that brings billions of dollars to the three Greater Yellowstone states. (photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
