Invisibilia: Should Wild Bears Be Feared Or Befriended?

by NPR June 8, 2017

Enlarge this image

Wildlife Research Institute biologists Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield use an antenna while trying to locate a radio-collared bear in the woods near Ely, Minn. in 2012. Derek Montgomery for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Derek Montgomery for NPR

Wildlife Research Institute biologists Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield use an antenna while trying to locate a radio-collared bear in the woods near Ely, Minn. in 2012.

Derek Montgomery for NPR

This week the podcast and show Invisibilia examines the nature of reality, with a Silicon Valley techie who created apps to randomize his life; a psychologist who trains herself to experience the world like dogs do; and a wildlife biologist who thinks bears aren’t dangerous.

When you live in northern Minnesota, wildlife is usually no big deal. A giant bull moose casually strolled through our neighborhood in Duluth a couple summers ago, past screaming and slack-jawed kids at a nearby park. Wolves also have ventured into town, occasionally killing dogs that strayed too far from their owners. Deer are as common as flies, and I only seem to notice them when they jump out in front of my car.

But bears are different. I hadn’t seen one in town, while driving or even at the zoo. So in 2012, when Minnesota Public Radio reporter Dan Kraker asked if I wanted to join him as he went out with wildlife biologist Lynn Rogers to find a bear, I jumped at the opportunity.

Enlarge this image

Photographs of Rogers’ long relationship with northern Minnesota bears and other animals adorn one of the cabinets at his Wildlife Research Institute. Derek Montgomery for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Derek Montgomery for NPR

Photographs of Rogers’ long relationship with northern Minnesota bears and other animals adorn one of the cabinets at his Wildlife Research Institute.

Derek Montgomery for NPR

Dan was going to write a story about Rogers’ work putting webcams in bear dens and radio collars on bears. That work is controversial; he argues that it’s creating a priceless database on the animals’ behavior. Others say that because he feeds bears and touches them, the bears become accustomed to humans and pose a danger to people who aren’t accustomed to wild bears approaching them. (In 2014, the state Department of Natural Resources rescinded Rogers’ permit to collar bears, citing complaints from local residents.)