Seriously. But until humans realize that they need to scale back on the number of children they have, its only going to get much worse. It'll be a sad day when those children that have been born in the last 15 years, will have to watch their grandkids have to suffer for OUR mistakes. No one is asking humans to go extinct, but scale back to 5 to 6 billion isn't an outrageous thing to ask.

I agree with StephAce. An eye-opening documentary on the subject of overpopulation...and the challenges the entire world is NOW facing because of it....can be seen on YouTube. It originally aired on PBS about 3 years ago on Earth Day. Produced by the BBC & hosted by naturalist David Attenborough.....it's called: How Many People Can Live On Planet Earth.

The bears in Colorado have plenty of room of their own. They just get curious and wander into cities and towns a lot. Do people go hiking in bear country because they don't have enough room of their own?

While I agree about the need for population control (with human numbers finally reaching 1 billion by around the year 1800, and increasing to 7 billion in the short 200 years since), bears have more than enough room in Colorado, which is still mostly wilderness. Bears typically only become a problem in populated areas when there is a lack of food, most often the result of a drought, etc., and they travel to elevations they don't normally dwell searching for something to eat. It really has nothing to do with overcrowding.

Even the environmental groups (Sierra Club) have knelt before the altar of the reproduction instinct. Every species has it, every species does it, and every species fights for the resources to maintain "their" space.

It's sad, but inevitable.

Ocean

I guess the important facts are irrelevant, like in 1952, the total pop. of U.S. was less than 160 milliion, now it's over 300 million, so, birth-rates, assuming your numbers are real, accounted for considerably fewer births.

Not really sure what your point is.

We need to ban cars.

JoeNY, seriously, don't give these people any ideas...

We can only hope for a pandemic that will wipe out half of the world's human population. We are due!

LMAO @JoeNY.

Thanks for that!

Sure, there are more people invading animals' habitats, but what about all the cars? This is truly a car-oriented culture, and people love zipping from point A to point B in their private little shells. I lived abroad for more than a decade and didn't have a car. It was possible to zip around very quickly while sitting comfortably in a bullet train with hundreds of other people who also WEREN'T DRIVING. It cost a whole lot less than owning and maintaining a car, it produced less pollution, plus I could get some work done or read along the way. It's a shame that cars are such a necessity for Americans, and it's an even bigger shame that we lose our minds the second we get behind the wheel and adopt the attitude that everything is "in my way." Having said that, I'm sure the drivers didn't hit the bear on purpose, and I hope they recover from their injuries.

Have you been to CO? Seriously driven through every inch of this state? No. Because you can't. Traveling between the major cities here there is nothing but farms or forest. The mountain towns are miles apart and pretty damn small. The City of Denver itself it TINY. The surrounding Suburbs? You can drive through them from one end to the other in about an hour and a half.

Bears and wildcats come into the cities where they hit the edge of civilization. My boss lives up in the mountains and has bears in her car. Do you think she shoots them? No. She tells them to shoo. And it works. This is a case of a bear who wandered into town, probably dislocated from a natural forest fire that would happen with or without people. The Rocky Mountains are not some hills. They're HUGE expansive and take over HALF the state, where a LOT of these bears live.

Yes, the human population is too large. But the population in Colorado is growing North to South and East- not west into bear country. Dear and rabbits and coyotes are more encroached on than bears in this state. Coyotes get back at the people by eating their cats and small dogs.

There's plenty of room for bears in Colorado. It's sad this bear died, but it was not because of a lack of habitat.

We can only hope for a pandemic that will wipe out half of the world's human population.

Which half?

U all are killing me. How do you know how much room a bear needs, really. To say CO has enough room, obviously not.

Colorado is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I'd much rather take a month and hike a bit of it than take a day and drive a lot of it.

whoever says there is plenty of room in colorado for bears has obviously never been there. The state is jam packed so full of trees and mountains, its a wonder any people can fit in there. Poor bear committed suicide.

National Geo ran an article a year or two ago. In it they said the fossil fuels and combustibles being used worldwide are burned at a rate that we would need 3.5 EARTH's to supply it all and have enough to last on a sustained basis. And that was based on the 7 billion population number. We are going to hit 8 billion in a few years and 9 billion around 2050. Each one of these people thinks they should be able to eat hot meals, drive a car, fly intercontinental for vacation or to visit the family in the old country. In America each family wants a 5,000 ft house, heated and cooled 4 car garage, heated pool and jaquozi. We want to fly to vegas for 3 day weekends and to tuscany to taste the wine and cheese. Europeans all have to vacay in S.E. Asia for some reason. Floridians buy oranges trucked from California and bottled water driven down from Maine. Every Baptist church in the US pust people on planes and buses and sends them 500 to 3,000 miles to help someone build something. They pass right by other Baptists coming to their home town to build something. None of them build things for poor people in their own home town. IT seems their good Christians works must be done far away or they don't count. The fuel they waste must be against all things theological as the pollution, economic waste, and depletion of precious resources inflict health and welfare damage on people. In my town it is quite the thing for people to have a beach house at the nearest nice place for it 75 to 150 miles down the coast. There are many thousands of them in the region doing this. I know people who drive 6,000 to 10,000 miles a year, year on year going back and forth from town to their beach houses. But it's fun to travel, isn't it. We waste incredible amounts of fuel. But somehow have trouble figuring it out.

Berecca,

If you had paid attention whist in Europe, you would have noticed the reason that great train system existed was because of population density.

We can't afford a rail system on the eastern seaboard without subsidies, much less in the mid-west or the Appalachian or Rocky mountains.

Ireadyou,

I agree (and laugh with you about) with most of your points. But, I'm old enough to remember the dire predictions that we would be out of energy by now. And, why is Nat Geo and other Enviros wasting so much carbon footprint? Their $mil paychecks?

In it they said the fossil fuels and combustibles being used worldwide are burned at a rate that we would need 3.5 EARTH's to supply it all and have enough to last on a sustained basis. And that was based on the 7 billion population number. We are going to hit 8 billion in a few years and 9 billion around 2050.

Honestly, I'm not that concerned. Whatever population issues we have will resolve themselves as more and more third world countries (where the vast, vast majority of the population growth has been taking place) modernize.

Plus, there's one thing that no hysterical Malthusian ever, ever takes into account: human ingenuity. You really think that technology today is much like it was fifty years ago? You think that gas mileage has remained the same since the days of the road yacht? You think we produce the same amount of food we did fifty years ago? There is so much research going into things like fusion (polywell, focus, mageto-inertial) that could give us more energy than we'd know what to do with. Last week, there was a story about a group of billionaires funding a private effort to begin capturing and mining asteroids, any one of which could supply us with enough base metals for millennia.

If there's a problem, we'll adapt and thrive. It's what we've done for millions of years, and, assuming we aren't held back by primitivists on the left and right, we (or our descendants) will be doing it millions of years from now.

It seriously galls me when I read such cynical and ill-informed anti-human rhetoric, particularly from people who undoubtedly consider themselves "progressive".

So, if I'm Pro-Choice and I choose to have a big family, am I a good or bad person?

It's comments from the eco-terrorists who would rather kill people and have more thought about "poor bear" then whether the drivers were injured or not; which would tend to convince me to become a hunter... If only because of PETA gone amuck and what not.... Oh, and umm yeah, there is a PETA I do support, but it's people for the eating of tastey animals :d

Some people drive like idiots. We see them everyday on the interstate. You try to keep back from the car in front of you and some idiot comes racing up and takes your buffer space and sticks to the the car bumper in front of you. After traffic breaks, the weaving, merging idiot my have a 100 yard advantage, hardly worth the dangerous driving.

I really don't think these people have to be some where in 5 less minutes. They just have mundane lives and driving is a sport to them. Thus animals and slower drivers pay the price. If you love animals and driving fast then stay alert when driving! But better yet, slow down and stay alert, especially for idiots.

We are talking about a bear being hit by a car. Not over population of man. Geez people.....Bears have plenty of room to roam. If people would stop feeding them and place their trash in metal containers, we would not be having this discussion. You wander into the bears territory. Think about it!

Stephace

Yep. Forced sterilization is the only way to go. I can only assume that you dont have kids and have been sterilized so that you wont have them, increasing the population. Your a good example and an inspiration to.... well, no one.

There's plenty of room for bears in Colorado, and most places. The thing is, they're smart. They know where the food sources are and the easiest one is where humans live.

Should have left him in the tree...

i like da bears...

You Go plain bob!! Da Bears. You can bet Ditka wasn't driving any of those cars!

Famous falling bear tranquilized on Colorado campus is killed by cars days later

LOL

The photo would have been worth going viral if the bear was falling or jumping on its own, rather than from being tranquilized.

Bear was more safe in that college tree....maybe seeking HIGHER education.

It's sad that the people who caught the bear released it so close to the highway. This kind of thing happens every day.

Oh, yes, because someone had a human baby somewhere a stupid bear died. Because of stupid bears, let's start draconian "population control" methods like China. Let's force women to have late-third-term abortions. Let's forcibly sterilize women and men, all because of a stupid bear.

And that bear was stupid. It didn't get the message to go back into the hinterlands of Colorado, but kept trying to meander among human territory. It's good thing it became road-kill. That's a part of evolution. It can no longer pass its defective, stupid genes to other bears, making for a more intelligent bear species. I just hope they can harvest its meat to feed humans.

I have a GREAT idea. All those that want to impose population control, stop having sex. You first... -.-

Most people blame overpopulation on the birth rates. But have any of you considered that maybe the fact that we have more than doubled the average human life expectancy since the early 20th Century has had some effect on the population problem?

Sadly nature and technology are not always compatible.

No easy answers here.

RIP bear.

It's almost impossible to believe the ignorance of some of the people on this site. Black bears in this country are not going anywhere near extinct. In fact I would almost bet that they are like the Whitetail Deer in that their numbers have probably increased substantially since scientific herd management (hunter licensing limits and other techniques including reintroduction) began in the early 1900s. There are even so many bears in New Jersey (NEW JERSEY for God's sake) that they need to have a hunting season to bring the population down to a safe and sustainable level. Of course the Envirowhackos (who pay FAR less towards the actual costs of wildlife conservation than the hunters) are suing at every turn to prevent it. Deer have gotten so out of control in New Jersey that, unlike most states where each license is only good for one animal, New Jersey hunters are allowed to harvest up to 7 animals a year.

The birth rate in the US may have gone down, but the population still go up in the last 60 years. There has been a HUGE increase in international travel in the last 60 years and immigration, (both legal and illegal) has increased with it. Like wise life expectancies have also gone up a couple of decades in that time. Even if the birthrates go down, if more people come in, and people live longer, the population rises. Likewise when the population rises through other means, a decrease in birthrates doesn't necessarily mean that the NUMBER of births didn't go up. 100 births per 100,000 means if there are 200,000,000 people there are 200,000 births. 90 births per 100,000 means if there are 250,000,000 people there are 225,000 births. Lower rate but more births. Another thing that has impacted the birth rate was the war on poverty started in the 60s. How many of the women who have made welfare checks a lifestyle would have had multiple children by unknown fathers had they been required to work to feed them? Has anyone else noticed that the "stop having kids crowd" are angry with the people who can actually support kids having them, but won't say a word to the welfare queen for popping out kids like puppies? I have a theory that they're either afraid of being called racist or having their teeth kicked in by the women who's welfare checks they're threatening. I also don't see them complaining about the money taken from people without kids to subsidize the kids of people without the means to support them in the form of the Earned Income Credit.

As for the use of public transportation in the US versus other countries, I just have to ask if the people saying how wonderful it is overseas have ever looked at a globe? These seem to think that because something works in a European country, it will work here. Here's a hint, it WON'T. WHY? Because the US is MUCH larger than the entire continent of Europe. For instance, TEXAS alone is larger than the country of France, or Germany and the Netherlands combined. It's actually further from El Paso to Houston than it is from Paris, France to Berlin, Germany. Same goes for traveling from Philly to Cincinnati. It's simply more efficient to FLY the distance between US cities, and as for local train transport, it doesn't work in most cases. SEPTA in the Philly area works well, but most don't. It has an advantage of being able to use the tracks that were laid for Amtrak decades ago, so there are no property disputes or other legal issues.

If you hit a bear you really are a pathetic driver. The second car is 2x worse. It is a case of speeding and following too close. It's a bear for God's sake not a rabbit or deer. If people slowed down for animals there would be a lot less casualties.

Seriously? You think humans have "Clogged every earthly scene?" Have you driven any further than the city limits? Humans, in the US only occupy a small percentage of the overall area we have in this country. I do agree we need population control, as a matter of fact I think it is our only chance of saving this world but we a far from clogging our countryside

Actually, I just read recently that ants take up the same space on earth as humans. So even if we limit our population, the ants are still going to crowd out the bears.

I think I saw Yogi do that once to get a Pic-a-nic bas-ket. "Woa Bobo, my heart's breaking from a lack of nourishment..."

I work in Boulder and live in this area. We have the whole Rocky Mountains for that bear to roam in. I assure you that overcrowding was not the cause of this. It is amazing how something so simple can turn so toxic and political . . .

Well gosh Christine Frey, tranquilizing the bear broke it's heart? -- so -- is your thrush that the poor bear wondered into traffic to commit suicide? Human epidemics? -- how many times have you or your family reproduced your/themselves?

You sound like a member of PETA, a radical group, who are more pro animal than pro human.

By the way, if PETA truly wanted to purport themselves as a humanitarian organization -- and to be taken seriously -- they would include the human species as being endangered. So -- there!

It is definitely us humans fault..............we didn't properly train the bear in the use of cross walks which led him to be a jaywalker and thus be hit by cars.

we didn't properly train the bear in the use of cross walks which led him to be a jaywalker and thus be hit by cars.

I wonder if we can divert some of the money that's being used to put giant shrimp on treadmills to this program...

Oh China, do you happen to have $50 million lying around?

Well said, Marla.

I hope your kids die!

And they say we have a civility problem in America. What do they know?

/sarc

JoeNY

It was a black bear hit by two white cars...Al and Jesse on the way to CO.

the major contributor to American population is now immigration not birth. However, we have been wiping out bears and wolves when there were far fewer of us.

Maybe it is not space, and just seemly territorial. They took him out a ways, and although I believe there is that intuition that animals have that guides them back to their stomping grounds, he was probably trying to figure out which end was up. Too bad he was figuring it out in the road.

Thanks Marla for your brave comment. Couldn't have said it better. These people who think we are overpopulated should be the first to check out when they reach 60+ so they could give the young people room to stretch out.

THE BEST PERSON TO EVER LIVE ON EARTH - your more full of crap than a Thanksgiving turkey. Wishing someones children to die is really sick. You say Christians are the problem with the world. Maybe we Christians are getting to you because we are praying for your soul. Wake up and smell the roses and live a long life.

Only in America does an article like this get dragged into a religous debate. *rolling eyes*

Best person to ever live on earth, (is it eco terrorist here?); plz go down to your local DHS or FBI office, and verbalize your rants to them.... If you really would wish death on complete strangers kids in this fashion, to help "wipe out" portions of the human population; your cell in GITMO might just be waiting for ya :o Seriously dude, comments such as that, are about as nutty as one hears comming out of the mouth of Al Quida members; and no one ever did say that the only form of terrorism comes from that corner of the world either....

If you are a fellow American and the post everyone is replying to isn't "just angry talk" but something more serious for ya, then I'm embarassed to call you a countryman...

Marla you are an idiot plain and simple the bible you read also says you have to be quarantine when your menstruating but I bet you ignore that, stop turning this into Well The Bible says I can do this crap. The damn thing was written over 1500 years ago. You know in a time where if you opened your mouth you would probably be stoned. Perhaps you could I don't know understand that oh yea this is human error. Two people couldn't be bothered to slow down and that poor animal payed the price.

Apparently everyone clammering about overpopulation hasn't thought about this.......why are you here and your children here? Apparently you, your parents,your grandparents, were not to concerned about over populating the earth or you or your children would not be here would you? What do you suggest? Forced sterilization?? Give me a break people!

Marla you are an idiot plain and simple

Did Marla insult you, Maria?

Also, perhaps you could, I don't know, understand that---oh yeah---you should use punctuation when you write?

We had two bears in town last month...One was captured an hauled away, the other got testy and was shot dead. The bears have thousands of sq. mile to roam, but find people food in towns easier (and tastier) that their regular fare...so they die, either from a gunshot or by clogger arteries.

Hey Marla, sounds very selfish to say that animals were put here for our use, and naive. We live in a very sensitively balanced ecosystem, if we disrupt this system then we all suffer, even humans. It only makes sense to live AMONG the animals and make as little impact as possible on the natural balance of the earth.

Also, the bible was written by a man, who never even met Jesus, or was alive during his time. How would a man know what God wants? If I told you that God told me his plans for humans, you'd think I'm crazy. But because it supposedly happened thousands of years ago, it makes sense? What's wrong with using common sense? I would assume that God would just want us to be nice and only kill creatures he made if we had to survive. But that's just me.

We live in a very sensitively balanced ecosystem, if we disrupt this system then we all suffer, even humans.

Not really, wizrd80. Balance of nature theory has been discredited for decades. We're dealing with a completely chaotic system.

Yea she did by using the death of an animal to throw her religion out, that's beyond reprehensible. Really? the most you could pull out is grammar? How cute.

Did she insult you personally, though?

Beyond reprehensible? Seriously? Yesterday, a mother in Missouri was sentenced to two life sentences for allowing a 48 year old man to rape her infant. That is beyond reprehensible. It just seems like you're overly sensitive to people expressing their faith.

As for your grammar, your post was difficult to read. It's not like punctuation is hard or anything...

Try reading leek then see how hard that is. That is horrible however holds no standing here. Marla used this as a platform. Take for example St. Jerome he saved a lion understanding the beauty of the creature, as such the lion lived with him for saving him. Well according to the tale anyway. Here she pretty much said. "Screw animals my brats are worth more." That is disgusting, because she clearly ignores compassion for those without a voice. There are stories within the bible about shepards risking their lives to save their flock but she apparently never read those either.

For that matter I don't type well because I don't write in this language normally.

I don't type well because I don't write in this language normally.

Understood. My apologies.

Here she pretty much said. "Screw animals my brats are worth more."

Frankly, I'm a human supremacist. Not to say that I think animal cruelty is good, but my priority is people. If it's a choice between my kids and my pets, my kids are going to win every time. I'd rather give money to a homeless shelter or a halfway house than to an animal shelter.

Hey, Armando, it's called a food chain. Sure the environment is ever changing but if one's animals food source runs out, so does another one, and so forth. In fact I was watching a show on Bears last night, about how they rely on the salmon spawn to survive. So if we kill all the salmon, the bears die. Just an example but there are many like it all over the planet.

I would choose a humans life over an animals also but that doesn't mean we have free reign to do whatever we want. Not only is it despicable but it effect our future.

I agree with wizrd80 it's the same with plants without trees there is no us, alot are content to hold their religion as reason why they do what they do. However when it all comes down to it no imaginary man from a book is going to bring what we destroy back. There is a balance and we trek all over it without a thought.

alot are content to hold their religion as reason why they do what they do.

You still shouldn't have called Marla an idiot. Insulting her isn't going to bring her over to your cause.

There is a balance

That's the thing. There. Is. No. Balance. Nature is chaotic, and species go extinct all the time for all sorts of reasons. Not to say we should pave the Amazon, but, frankly, the needs of people come first, imaginary man from a book or no imaginary man from a book.

So if we kill all the salmon, the bears die.

Not necessarily. Bears are notoriously omnivorous. In the unlikely event that something, be it us or a supervolcano or even just a change in the current of a river, wipes out all the salmon, some bears would certainly starve, but others would turn to other sources of food. Life would adapt and evolve (as it always does) and would go on.

Actually that's were you are wrong. The few times nature has intervened on it's own, is the dinosaurs, Ice Age creatures and so on. Most species to go extinct within the last 50 years are completely on human error.

Idiot means one that doesn't think. She didn't thus deserving that.

I would have some respect, a very little, mind you, for these population control people if they put their bodies where their mouths are got themselves sterlized before they even had one child. Until then, I have no respect for them or their beliefs. If a population control person chooses to have even one child, then they're nothing but hot air.

I just don't understand how they can complain about population levels and then go out and complain about wars, murders, accidents, and other things like that, that contribute to population control.

/sarc

Overpopulation is only a problem in the mind of the "intellectual elites" and their minions who have never lived outside of an urban center. Overpopulation is NOT a problem.

What I want to know is why do the "overpopulation alarmists" only seem to complain about the people who can support their kids having them, but never say that we need to stop spending money we don't have on programs to feed, house, clothe and medicate the children of those who aren't able to support their own and still breed like flies? Why aren't they protesting to stop the food and medical aid to third world countries? That would cut the world's population by allowing those who can't support themselves to learn to live "in harmony with their environment" or die trying. Funny how the same people pushing for the expansion of Welfare, Medicaid, SChip, food stamps and other "war on poverty" programs are the same ones who complain about overpopulation while expanding programs that subsidize the very actions that they speak out against. These are the "intellectual elites" who are too smart to be anything but college professors. Makes you wonder what are kids are being taught in college, doesn't it?

For those that feel that we are overpopulating the earth, you can start reducing the numbers by reducing yourself.

indeed.

Maria, had I said "screw the animals, my brats come first," I'd be entirely right. People come first. Fact. Once again this thread proves that "liberals" are rude and vicious. I don't attack people for their opinions, why do liberals? Mind boggling...and yet, again, I'm the pushy one pushing my faith. Open your eyes, Maria.

It's probably that ear tag they stapled to him. I'd walk out into traffic if somebody did that to me . . .

Actually, There is an abundance of black bears, They are growing in population not declining. The Brown bear (Grizzly) is in danger in the lower 48. Black bears have adopted extremely well to humans, we provide food to bears through trash, dumps, people handing tidbits to bears. In the Eastern Sierras the was a problem with bears in the campgrounds a few years ago. the Park service put in bear proof trash cans, bear boxes for campers to put store their food in, and started fining campers for not using the bear receptacles and for feeding them. The bear problem is all but gone. They are around, but not the overabundance there was a few years ago.

There's a bit of a bear problem in Romania. A friend of mine couldn't get to work on time because a cute little black bear was hanging out on his doorstep, snacking on some garbage it picked up down the street. This was in the middle of a medium-sized city.

jungle

Are you saying the cars did the environment a favor?

Are you saying the cars did the environment a favor?

What????

Are you volunteering to lead the parade?

hank, I believe school did just that by voicing that opinion.

lol hank. I was thinking the same thing...

Funny thing, I'd bet School would have a schedule conflict with that parade.

Have a nice day.

I was thinking the same thing.

You've made a choice about how many children you should have. Good for you. The rest of us do that as well, and usually we don't bother bragging about it.

I'm going to have four kids and not get a vasectomy. As long as you population control people keep only having one kid (or none) per generation, my progeny will eventually take over the planet!

Adopted.

2 kids 1 vasectomy

Two and a snip, Billy! I figure we accounted for the two of us and don't need to contribute surplus people to the planet.

I'm childless because they're annoying and expensive, and my achievements are helping the world a lot more than squirting out kid after kid. Reproduction is not a substitute for intelligence, nor is it indicative of any kind of talent.

As long as you can properly provide food, medical care and a safe shelter for your children I dont think there is a problem with the population. And really if you're concerned about Social Security running out in the future it is because so many of the baby boomers only had 2.5 kids...which means for every parent there is only 1.25 people paying back into the system. Where as a family that say has 4 children or excetera has more individuals paying taxes and SS. So really in the long run families with only 2 kids are more a drain on our national resources... just a though.

Berecca

I have 4 kids and most likely going to have 2-3 more. My wife is a very well respected accountant working for a major credit card company and I am In metrology working for the largest pharma company in the world right now. math and science are what we excell at. So squirting out kids doesnt seem to hinder us. But maybe it would be too much for you to handle. Dont feel bad. We all have limitations.

And yes, it does take talent. kids are harder than anything you will ever do in your life and if you are actually GOOD at being a parent then you are in the upper 10%. It takes more talent than you could understand.

Sure, you do tons of work, and you're a hero with a bedtime story. I applaud people who can actually raise their kids to be productive members of society. HOWEVER, I know plenty of people who define themselves by the fruit of their loins, are slaves to their DNA, and raise a bunch of maniacs. No doubt your children appreciate your efforts, but have you ever considered adopting some needy children? If you've got so much money, why don't you help out a soul who already exists? Your DNA is already running around and will reproduce further, so why not make the world a little better for a kid who needs a family?

Berecca . . . Is that what life is all about for you, "my achievements are helping the world a lot more than squirting out kid after kid". Thanksgiving must be pretty lonely at the old Berecca house. Have you seen the movie "A Christmas Carol" . . .

Adopting a child isn't as easy as you think, Berecca. Besides, if one is fertile, then it's best to leave the adoptable children to those who can't have them. Commonsensesam sounds like he's doing the right thing for his own family as well as increasing the odds for a childless couple to adopt.

it's best to leave the adoptable children to those who can't have them.

Lovely. I guess that's why there's such a nice, even ratio of orphans to infertile couples, enough for everybody to adopt and be adopted. Problem solved! Nevermind those pesky orphans in countries whose names we can't pronounce. (I'm using sarcasm, by the way.)

All I'll say is:

Ave atque vale, Hover Bear!

Bears only walk on roads??? LOL! Where I live, they walk through the woods, fields, yards, roads, pretty much wherever they want to walk, whenever, and however they want.

I didn't know bears had "arms and legs".

scotgal, if you are referring to my last post you probably have a low I.Q. I meant bears have become so used to seeing cars and being in a more populated environment they have become desensitized to the dangers and should be placed much farther away from civilization, to avoid what just happened... ever had a bear in your yard??? I have.........

"The animal was later relocated to a wilderness area about 50 miles west of Boulder."

I appears that is what they did. Just because something bad happens doesn't mean somebody has to be to blame. Sometimes everyone uses their best judgement and the result still is undesirable. A bear cub was killed by a car a mile from my home, and it didn't even make the news. I'm pretty sure it was George Bush's fault.

There was a family of rabbits eating my garden that mysteriously disappeared a year or so ago. Later they were found dead in the woods with gunshot wounds. As it turns out, I could not afford a helicopter so I just bought some .22 ammo instead.

Unfortunately, 50 miles west of Boulder is still filled to the gills with humans and cars.

it may have been 50 miles away from where he was captured , but how far from the road that he was killed on

They should have set up a school to teach the bears that they have to stay away from roads and populated areas. How dare they just drop him off 50 miles in a remote region and not have the common curtesy to give them some guidance on where and where not to go.

Maybe they need to put up some sign's and teach the bears and other animals what they mean so when they see a sign with a car or truck on it they know to stay clear.

As fo those that think the human population needs to be controlled, when are you going to offer up yourselves and make more room? As mentioned earlier, Man was created to have dominence over the land, animals, and foul. I only see this as one less meal for some.

We should treat the animals as everything else with respect, but they have a place in the food chain. The senseless killing of an animal for sport is not acceptable. Accidents happen as this is proof. I am wondering why this story was even published. Where is the news value?

Brian, he fell last week, when he was tranquilized and relocated 50 miles away. The bear wandered back into the busy area in search of food A WEEK later and was hit by cars, on the road, not in the air. Did you read the article or just assume from the picture and the headline that flying cars have become a reality?

How in the hell did that bear get hit by TWO cars?

Because he's HOVER BEAR, man!

The photo is great. It looks like the bear is having a fun time jumping on a tramoline.
Bummer that the bear was killed by getting hit by cars.
I'll bet the cars had some damage though. Deer do good damage when they are hit, bears are even bigger....

Bob, the bear in the story and the bears in Kentucky and West Virginia are BLACK bears. Brown bears are grizzly bears and their closely related bears in other parts of the world. From Wikipedia:

While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least concern species by the IUCN with a total population of approximately 200,000. However, the Californian, North African (Atlas bear), and Mexican subspecies were hunted to extinction in the 1870s, 1922, and more recently, respectively, and the not officially recognized Marsican brown bear in central Italy is believed to have a population of just 30 to 40 bears.

The brown bear's principal range includes parts of Russia, the United States (mostly in Alaska), Canada, the Carpathian region (especially Romania^[4] , but also Ukraine, Slovakia, and so on), the Balkans, Sweden and Finland, where it is the national animal.

Mary is right, but black bears can be other colors than black. Cinnamon comes to mind.

This is so tru, Amen on this. If only more would see it this way. Poor Bear. We just had a cougar killed instead of tranquiled and relocated, not just once but twice here. It is very sad that people think this is the only solution, they could have put a safety net under it to catch it after tranquilizing it too, like the bear.

Easy solution to the over-population problem, governments should begin to encourage their population (who are not born that way) to chose gay. Maybe some special tax incentives to all male or all female households?

seek help now not later. also please go live in the woods with the bears without access to the internet. thanks.

" Before Human life came into existence and stole the land from the animals, every single inch of Earth was animal populated."

What a travesty they human race is. We should all kill each other or commit suicide immediately!

If Humans are simply an animal and nothing more, than why do we make laws against killing other humans? Animals kill others of their own species all the time - they don't have laws against that sort of thing. Why are we so arrogant to place ourselves above them by making laws against murder?

In case anybody reading this is too drunk to recognize it, the above is sarcasm. My point is that humans are not just animals. There are some mysterious differences that evolution has a hard time explaining.

I suggest you re-read Genisis and the account of the Creation. Not sure what 'religion' you may belong to, but it is pretty clear on why animals were created and what role man plays.

If animals were to be placed on the 'pedestal' you seem to be putting them on, why didn't God make them the dominant species?

Although you may be right about him foraging for food, he chose the wrong place.

If you're that concerned about the population problem, you could always be the first person to voluntarily surender your own life; rather then expect families to do it with their kids... What, has a PETA convention checked in on this thread or something? :o

Brilliant post. too bad the majority of those who claim to be "superior to every other animal in mysterious ways only modern day Christianity can explain" won't take the time to read it.

In response to the Christians in this thread pulling from the bible, has it ever dawned upon you that there may be no dominant species on the planet. Maybe God created each species individually to play a role that could benefit this earth and their immediate habitats?

Just because we are the most organized(i.e. laws, society, moral structure), doesn't mean we're given God's right to decide who lives and who dies.

But of course the views of most modern-day Christians is that with God given power comes Godhood, and that even though someone is in control, that person can destroy the lives of those they've been placed in control of, and it be for the "greater good".

I will never understand how you can go on thinking your "messiah" went around preaching Megalomania, and not the golden rule of treating others, people AND animals, as you yourself would like to be treated.

More importantly, I like how nobody is speaking on how TWO CARS at DAWN could both hit the SAME BEAR.

Does no one see the increase in wildlife's extinction due to plain old driver's negligence as a problem?

Yet, we're the superior species, right?

Cornelius, we're actually called to be the stewards of the Earth. We're in charge here until the Second Coming.

So someone tell me again why they want us to get rid of the nukes, after all don't they have the potential to influence the future population path and get rid of all of us nasty evil humans?

Bernardo-1874964

You are misinformed so I will educate you. To effectively stop animal over population, a Geographical specialist who knows the lay of the land would have to survey the option to move excess animals to more bountiful territories restored by human beings with fresh seed.

Once the land was restored for habitation, wild life specialists would relocate excess wildlife by transporting them through means of tranquilizer guns. Stopping hunting is not only a humane way to end this growing population problem, it is also away to test each animal for disease so that they can be euthanized humanely rather than destroying entire herds at a time.

(Which is done do to the fact hunters cannot tell diseased animals from non diseased.)

All life is equal. No life has more value or worth than another. Those who deny this fact do not understand that they were made from the energy of the universe and the partials of this Earth the same as all other life forms. When your rights kill or harm other life forms, they are not rights at all for the action of killing is wrong.

From flesh to bone, from blood to dust, human beings are a part of the Earth, they are not greater than the Earth, nor are they greater than any of the Earths life forms.

All life is indeed equal on this Earth and equal to God for God is their creator. To think otherwise is to show selfish arrogance and superior pride.

Man And Animals Are Equal. In the Bible passage Eccl. 3:19-21 (The New Testament); It states: "Man's fate is like that of an animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. We all go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust we will all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the Earth?"

From the spec of sand on the ground to a man who walks upon two legs and thinks with the ability and endowments of a brain and the blessing and gifts of free will and clear consciousness all life is one, united by the particles of the Earth.

Animals do what comes natural to their nature. An Animal acts on instinct, when they are hungry they eat whatever food is available. Animals do not hunt people down for the sport, pride or pleasure in it, like humans do.

When one animal preys on another animal, it does not do anything wrong, nor does it violate the rights of the other animal because it is doing what comes natural to nature. There is nothing in this act that a human being is required to prevent. When animals are being killed and hunted by humans who have the free will choice NOT to kill and hunt this is a violation against nature and therefore it is morally unjustified.

Human beings are indeed just animals.

Human laws, rules and traditions are not nature’s laws. They are the laws set by human beings, for human beings and most of them exclude environmental and animal welfare. In other words, they are self serving laws that offer no equality.

As far as the human justice system is concerned we all must ask ourselves;

“When Does Legal Become Illegal?

No human being is qualified, nor are they legally authorized to speak for nature and decide the fate of her creations.

A human being that feels they have a legal right to harm or kill any life form, is acting out of arrogance, they are not acting upon a true legal right.

The rules to human behavior should be simple but they are not.

If your actions or words take another life forms rights away, then there can be no justice.

To be right is to be in accordance with what is good, proper, morally excellent; virtuous; beneficial desirable and favorable to all life.

To be legal is merely what is permitted by human law. Human laws are not right if they do not provide justice for all life forms.

By allowing yourself the self appointed right to choose another life forms fate, you are also allowing another life form to be the master of your fate, while saying that you accept the fact that it is every man or animal for themselves, and therefore if someone (human or animal) so chooses, it is their right, as it is your right, to harm harass, terrorize and take any life from this earth that they please including your own.

It does not matter if you feel your body is stronger than another life forms body or if you feel your mind is more clever because you can make weapons to destroy your enemies and kill your food.

No one has earned the legal right to destroy a life and choose another life forms fate.

Because the rapist is stronger and more clever than its victim did he EARN the right to defile the victim?

Human actions, rules, traditions and laws are not ethically legal if they do not promote equality amongst all life forms.

The truth is, human beings have no legal right to rule over nature, nor do they have a legal right to rule over any animal kingdom.

Humans have self appointed themselves as the dominating species of this Earth, but in reality, this is not a fact.

God and nature did not give mankind this hierarchy. Mankind took this hierarchy for their own selfish gains.

Human life has individual value but is not worth more than any other species on this planet. This argument that human life has more value then animal life is not persuasive, nor is it sound.

Human beings by their own free will choice have decided to consider themselves civilized beings above the animal kingdom and therefore all human life has no business interfering with nature and the wild.

The natural world exists without the interference of human beings or civilization. The natural world is the material world, surrounding humankind and existing independently of human activities. The oxford dictionary states that: Natural means: existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind. In Webster dictionary 10a and 11 it states: growing without human care; not cultivated existing in or produced by nature: not artificial living in or as if in a state of nature untouched by the influences of civilization and society. The American Heritage dictionary states that natural is existing in or formed by nature. Genuine, authentic. Not affected by man or civilization; uncultivated; wild, organic, unrefined and unprocessed.

In other words, human beings are a part of nature, but their actions and the creations from their imaginations are not. The human mind is natural for it is organic. The creations human beings make from their thoughts and imaginations are not natural for they distort and alter nature through the birth of their inventions. Also, the materials used for human inventions are natural. What human beings do to altar those materials are not.

Human laws, rules, creations and actions are not natural.

In order to go jogging, hiking, biking, mountain climbing, poaching, trapping, hunting, poaching, swimming, fishing and camping a human being must leave their own civilization and trend on uncivilized ground.

Civilization is found in towns, cities and rural communities. it is not found in forests, jungles, woods or bodies of water.

All animal killing happens in areas were human laws do not apply.

In matters of factory farming and slaughter houses there is no such thing as civilized confinement, caging, torture, containing, unnatural breeding or killing.

Taking a life forms rights and freedom away is not civilized. Webster’s dictionary characterizes the word civilized as being tasteful refined, or having restraint while the American Heritage dictionary says Civilized is having an advanced polite; well-bred, humane society.

As you can tell by the description of how humans treat animals in factory farms and slaughter houses that these actions are much more barbaric then civilized.

Human beings must remember that human legalities have no baring or credence to natural laws. Natural laws are the only valid laws that are valid when concerning issues of harming natural creations and taking life from the natural world.

The natural world exists without the interference of human beings or civilization.

As the Prophet Mohamad said:

“A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to a human being.”

In the human world all laws should apply to the well being of all life, not just human life.

When a human being has committed a cruel act against a non human animal this must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of human law.

Until the entire human race has this mind set, higher conscious will not develop nor will it reign supreme among the masses.

No one has the right to kill another life form.

N Laurino.

You are misinformed. I suggest you re-read Genisis and the account of the Creation. I’m not sure what religion you belong to but it is not true Christianity. Humans have self appointed themselves as the dominating species of this Earth, but in reality, this is not a fact.

God and nature did not give mankind this hierarchy. Mankind took this hierarchy for their own selfish gains. God does not promote, reward, endorse, praise or condone mankind for their negative actions. God cares not what mankind does it is mankind that must care. Human beings are the only ones that can choose to end the suffering they inflict on others.

In Genesis 1:28.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

The word subdue means to conquer and bring into subjection as to overpower by superior force while the word dominate means; to rule over; govern; control as to exercise a directing or restraining influence over all.

Could it be possible that the restraining influence God was actually dictating was for human beings to refrain from negative behavior while using their power of free will to love?

In Genesis 9: 1 it says: And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the Earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth and upon all the fishes of the sea; for into your hands are they delivered."

God again is entrusting all the life of the Earth to mankind, not to eat and mistreat, God wants all the life on Earth to know that they will have reason to fear and dread mankind, because mankind has the ability to use their free will to destroy them.

God is letting the animals know what cruelties man is capable of.

In Genesis 9:3-9:4 (King James) God says: "Every moving thing that liveth, shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."

When God said he was giving everything that moved to man to eat, human beings thought he meant animal life, but he did not.

God spoke in terms of nature, but man misunderstood. God meant everything that moves as in the breeze that moves the blades of grass, the leaves on trees and the wheat stocks in the fields.

Nuadormrac,

You are misinformed so I will educate you. To effectively stop animal over population, a Geographical specialist who knows the lay of the land would have to survey the option to move excess animals to more bountiful territories restored by human beings with fresh seed.

Once the land was restored for habitation, wild life specialists would relocate excess wildlife by transporting them through means of tranquilizer guns. Stopping hunting is not only a humane way to end this growing population problem, it is also away to test each animal for disease so that they can be euthanized humanely rather than destroying entire herds at a time.

(Which is done do to the fact hunters cannot tell diseased animals from non diseased.)

If you're that concerned that humans continue to overpopulate the planet you could always be the first person to voluntarily surrender your own life and body as a sperm giver if you are a man, or a baby maker if you are a woman. Your soul purpose could then be procreation.

The truth is the act of heterosexual sex causes over population. Although many Bible readers believe in creating human life in abundance, every life that enters this Earth needs additional food and space apart from the life that is already here.

By curving the human need to randomly and prolifically procreate, human beings will stop the need to take land, life and food away from other life forms.

People that want children should adopt the orphans that are already here on the Earth.

Armando-1888053

I am sorry to say that you are misinformed. The earth belongs to no species. All life belongs to the Earth. No one has been appointed by nature to take charge. Although this thought makes life seem more bearable, it is a false claim that comes from human arrogance and self appointed pride.

Human life should indeed be the Earth’s caretakers but instead they choose to be her self appointed dominators.

Human beings could never manage the Earth’s property unless they willingly gave up their mortal superiority.

In other words, human beings would have to care more for the well being of the entire Earth, then care about the well being of their individual species.

To be stewards of the Earth, humankind would have to be natural and act on behalf of nature.

The natural world exists without the interference of human beings or civilization. The natural world is the material world, surrounding humankind and existing independently of human activities. The elements of the natural world are mountains, trees, animals, human animals and rivers. They are not the activities performed by human animals.

The oxford dictionary states that: Natural means: existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind. In Webster dictionary 10a and 11 it states: growing without human care; not cultivated existing in or produced by nature: not artificial living in or as if in a state of nature untouched by the influences of civilization and society. The American Heritage dictionary states that natural is existing in or formed by nature. Genuine, authentic. Not affected by man or civilization; uncultivated; wild, organic, unrefined and unprocessed.

In other words, human beings are a part of nature, but their actions and the creations from their imaginations are not. The human mind is natural for it is organic. The creations human beings make from their thoughts and imaginations are not natural for they distort and alter nature through the birth of their inventions. Also, the materials used for human inventions are natural. What human beings do to altar those materials are not.

To understand what is natural, you must think about what is naturally in the world without the interference of human manipulation and persuasion. A sharp stick is natural. To sharpen a stick is not. A rock is natural a hammer is not.

Human laws, rules, creations and actions are not natural.

Like all non – human animals, Nature does not select what move she will make next for nature does not comprehend the outcomes of her actions. Mankind does not have to go to war, eat meat, hunt, poach or create destructive weapons and technologies. Mankind chooses by their own free will to go to war, eat meat, hunt, poach or create destructive weapons and technologies.

These choices are not natural. The wind, storms, volcanoes and Earthquakes are natural for they are spontaneous reactions to environmental changes. Tools, weapons, cars, boats, planes, houses, buildings, furniture are unnatural for the natural materials that they were made with were altered.

Non human animals and Nature respond to the elements surrounding her. Animals like humans have the opportunity to select where they want to go, what toy they want to play with and what odors smell good, but they do not have the mind capacity to understand what they are selecting. If it smells good they want it. If it tastes and feels good they want it. If it scares them, they will either hide from it or attack. These reactions are not free will. Only mankind has free will.

Free will is the capacity of rational thought to choose a course of action from various alternatives. Animals act instinctively they use their senses to guide them. Not having free will choice does not make an animal mindless or less intelligent than a human being. On the contrary, animals use sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge and training, animals respond using normal native intelligence. Free will has little to do with intelligence. Free will has to do with, desire, pleasure, power, purpose and volition.

An animal acts on instinct and instinct has little to with automatic response. Instinct comes from intuition, inclination, tendency, experience and inner wisdom. As I said before, animals make their decisions through their senses. Sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. Humans make their decisions through selfish desires, greed, arrogance, ignorance, fear, pleasure, compassion and amusement. Human beings have the capability of knowing outcomes before they happen, just by remembering the outcomes of the past. Human beings no fire burns, war and hunting kills and cruelty causes suffering.

Unlike animals, human beings can formulate the outcome of their actions before making free will choices that allow them to engage in, promote, emulate and participate in activities that they know will cause destruction and harm. Animals react without any precise analyzations.

In both Webster and American Heritage dictionaries Definition #2 Free will is the freedom that human beings have to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention. Even in the Oxford dictionary it states: the power of Free will is the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion.

Animals do not use discretion for discretion is the quality of being discreet, especially with reference to one's own actions or speech; prudence or decorum:

Human beings do not embrace their natural species like animals do, instead they create a false disguise to hide behind through; deodorant, toothpaste, soap and mouth wash. To look appealing humans have to: brush their hair, shave and wear makeup.

Even the human code of ethics is not natural a human is considered ill mannered if they: pick their nose, scratch their private parts, cough, blow their nose, spit, choke, wet the toilet seat, don’t wash their hands, wear too much perfume, lack in modesty, litter, spit in the street, pick food from their teeth, get angry, curse and swear.

Go Cubs!!!!!!!!!!!

<facepalm>

It wasn't murder. Leaving aside that you can only murder human beings, this was an accident.

Yeah. PETA should sue for 20M on behalf of the bears family!! The government was clearly negligent and as a direct result caused the death of said bear.

This is an outrage!! Someone has to pay!!

For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that Eric Holder and his Fast and Furious program was behind this. The Justice Department is going to have A LOT to answer for when the investigation into this bear's death is completed...

Yes, the people who hit the bear should PAY!!!! Write the bears family a check.

The road was clearly built in the wrong place. Remove the road at once!

I BLAME BUSH!!!

So what's PETA been up to lately? Spiking more trees, in an attempt to seriously injure the faces of loggers, over "the poor defenseless tree"? Seriously, it's statements like the above which could leave people who haven't hunted a day in their life; thinking of picking up the sport. Sad thing is, I think some people are serious with some of this. I wish I only could give peeps the benefit of the doubt for trolling with calling hitting an animal murder, and all this other animal rights/kill off humans/thin out their numbers crap; from the seeming extreme fringes of the left leaning side of the political spectrum.

Right about now, I'm having a hard time figuring out which group is more extreme. PETA or on the other end of the spectrum groups such as Timothy McVeigh belonged to :o

It is sad I no longer live in my native home anymore. I have to live in a strange place with my wife and three children. At least I have not been hit by a car recently. That is certainly a blessing.

they should have just killed the bear the first time it stepped onto the campus. Could have hurt a student

Yeah, and 50k plus humans get killed by cars every year... some just trying to avoid hitting bears.

Clearly the problem is education. We are the richest county in the world yet we cannot educate bears to check for traffic. What a shame.

Somebody in government needs to create a task force to study the option of creating a committee that could recommend the appropriate level of grant funding to scientists who could look at the relationship between the educational system and animal road kills and decide what action to recommend to the UN council on Animal Relations.

Meanwhile, does somebody have a good bear recipe to share with me?

There's a butcher shop about a half-hour from my house that sells black bear bacon. Never had a chance to try it, but I figure, the next time I score a professional victory, I'll reward myself...

bernardo

http://www.cookwildgame.com/samples/sample11.htm

Tranquil Nihilist,

I think you meant human. That's alright everyone Knows now.

The article said the bear was hit around dawn. At that time of the morning, it may still have been quite dark and seeing a black bear until you were upon it may have been difficult. I'm sorry the bear was killed after attempts were made to relocate and save it but, sadly, things like this happen all the time. I'm glad the people were not seriously injured.

People are indeed too much in a hurry these days, I'll agree with that. But to say excessive speed was a factor here might be jumping to conclusions.