(Host) The man sometimes referred to as “the Jane Goodall of the bear world” will be speaking in Montpelier Tuesday evening as part of a New England lecture tour. Dr. Lynn Rogers is a wildlife biologist who’s been researching bear activity for more than 30 years, including a field study of Black Bears in Minnesota.
With black bear populations growing in New England, and more people coming into contact with them, Rogers says it’s critical that humans don’t develop an unwarranted fear of the animals, which he says is too often the case:
(Rogers) “We see the warnings handed out to us at national parks, written by attorneys to avoid liability problems. And it’s hard to think straight about a bear. Then you hear the slogan, ‘never get between a mother and her cubs.’ That’s a grizzly bear trait. There’s 80% of the people killed by grizzly bears have been killed by mothers defending their cubs. But nobody’s ever killed by a mother black bear defending her cubs.”
(Host) Rogers credits what he calls New Englanders’ patience and willingness to learn about the animals as a chief reason why black bear populations have been on the rise in the region. His lecture at Montpelier High School begins Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.