S10. E10: Dr. Christopher Servheen: Anti-Predator Policies Based on Bar Room Biology and Fear are Coming for the Grizzly Bears
This episode is generously supported by The Summerlee Foundation a mission-driven, proactive organization dedicated to the support of animal protection and the preservation of Texas history.
“I think the thing revolves around the control of nature. You know, I mean, you get way back to that. Some people are really uncomfortable around nature existing as it should, and they feel that we need to fix things.” – Christopher Servheen
Grizzly bears are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. But Republican lawmakers in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are trying to change that. They are pressing the Biden administration to turn management of grizzly bears back over to the states, which would mean there would be a hunting season for grizzly bears, which would probably look something like what we're doing to wolves in those states, which is nothing short of a massacre.
Dr. Christopher Servheen spent 35 years, from 1981 until 2016, fighting to bring back grizzly bears. In 1981, they were on their way out. There were only 30 breeding females in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Most people thought that there was no way to save them.
But, because of Chris and people like him and because of The Federal Endangered Species Act, a conservation miracle occurred. They brought the bears back, an act that many consider to be one of conservation’s biggest success stories.
But now, in 2023, because of politicians in the Northern Rockies, the future for grizzly bears could be very bleak.
Please listen, share and then write a letter to the editor of whatever newspaper you read.
In gratitude,
Elizabeth Novogratz
Read Congressional Testimony
Read op-ed: Conservation and management of the culture of bears
Read op-ed: Congressional Delisting is a Bad Idea
Read article: Anti-Predator and Anti-Science
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