Bear cubs are being killed in their dens. States like Wyoming are going further and working to delist grizzly bears from Endangered Species Act protections. Help save bear cubs and grizzlies from being slaughtered this spring: Donate $15 to Friends of the Earth Action today.
Grizzlies are iconic animals in North America, but outside of Alaska, their numbers have dropped to only 2% of their historic population. Fewer than 2,000 grizzlies remain in the lower 48 states. Yet hunters are slaughtering bear cubs in their dens and were encouraged to do so by the Trump administration when they allowed this horrendous practice.
Now, Wyoming is working to remove ESA protections for grizzlies so that trophy hunters can kill these iconic, threatened species this coming spring. We can’t allow bad actors to succeed in removing protections and continue to hunt bear cubs with impunity.
As bears prepare for hibernation in the coming weeks, the fate of their cubs is being decided by private interests who only care about trophy hunting, mining, logging, and drilling for profit. This is why they are chipping away at animal and land protections.
Bears are intelligent creatures who enhance biodiversity, enrich soils, regulate prey populations, and transport nutrients through different ecosystems as they make their way through vast swaths of wilderness. The removal of protections could wreak havoc not only on the species, but their surrounding environment as well.
In the coming months, hunters could kill a mother bear who emerges from hibernation. She may be looking to replenish her lethargic and underfed body to give her the strength to care for her cubs.
But once the mother is killed, the cubs will be left orphaned. Bear cubs rely on their mothers until they are 17 months old. They don’t stand a chance of survival as they are left to suffer from starvation, predation, and exposure.
This is a horrible death for bear cubs and their mothers. What’s worse, these hunts are being held on America’s public lands and wildlife preserves where these creatures are meant to be protected.
This, unfortunately, is not the first time Wyoming has attempted to remove protections for grizzlies. Federal judges have twice rejected attempts to strip these protections -- but the state is proceeding anyway. We can’t let Wyoming remove protections and approve the slaughter of threatened grizzlies and bear cubs in their dens a third time -- the consequences could be catastrophic.
This is why Friends of the Earth Action is working to curb the concerted attack on bears and the lands they roam. We are compelling the US Fish and Wildlife Service to restore the ban on trophy hunting bear cubs, opposing oil and gas lease sales on public lands, and working to keep grizzlies protected under the ESA.
With Big Industry’s profits under threat, they are pushing back against these efforts, but we are not giving up. Vulnerable species and bear cubs are relying on our work and on your support to keep up the fight.
The inhumane treatment of bears and their cubs cannot continue. One bullet will not only kill mother bears, but the slaughter means that her cubs will be left to die as well. Help us put a stop to the deaths of America’s most iconic species.
Standing with you,
Raena Garcia,
Fossil fuels and lands campaigner,
Friends of the Earth Action
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