Saturday, September 16, 2006
Illegal Trash Dumping
Those who say illegals are trashing the country may have a point:
Immigrants crossing through the forest leave behind trash and leftovers, tainted with human scent, that teach the bears that people mean food, experts said. And the numbers of crossers and the trash is growing.
"The number of job seekers, drug smugglers and other illegal traffic coming through the mountain ranges has resulted in interactions that we're concerned may exacerbate human-bear interaction," Skinner said. "There's a tremendous amount of trash including food items that's being left on these travelways."
That means bears are more likely to move into areas where people live, because they know there is food and they've lost much of their fear of humans. Since mid-June, Bahti said Game & Fish has had more than 30 calls about nuisance bears.
"We've got more doggone bears than you can shake a stick at," Bahti said.
Illegal immigrants crossing into Arizona invariably carry backpacks with clothing, food and toiletries that they throw away, and the discarded food, and even toothpaste, are prime attractions for the bears, Skinner said.
The biologist for the Forest Service's Sierra Vista Ranger District has voiced his concern, Skinner said.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/26374.php
At least in AZ, it's just the bears getting killed -- see below.
Immigrants crossing through the forest leave behind trash and leftovers, tainted with human scent, that teach the bears that people mean food, experts said. And the numbers of crossers and the trash is growing.
"The number of job seekers, drug smugglers and other illegal traffic coming through the mountain ranges has resulted in interactions that we're concerned may exacerbate human-bear interaction," Skinner said. "There's a tremendous amount of trash including food items that's being left on these travelways."
That means bears are more likely to move into areas where people live, because they know there is food and they've lost much of their fear of humans. Since mid-June, Bahti said Game & Fish has had more than 30 calls about nuisance bears.
"We've got more doggone bears than you can shake a stick at," Bahti said.
Illegal immigrants crossing into Arizona invariably carry backpacks with clothing, food and toiletries that they throw away, and the discarded food, and even toothpaste, are prime attractions for the bears, Skinner said.
The biologist for the Forest Service's Sierra Vista Ranger District has voiced his concern, Skinner said.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/26374.php
At least in AZ, it's just the bears getting killed -- see below.
// posted by Zerin Hood @ 4:56 PM 
