Here in Colorado, bears are often killed due to interactions with humans. The prevalent policy is that these learned behaviors can’t be unlearned, and that there’s overwhelming danger to humans that must be stopped cold.
As winter approaches, these encounters become more prevalent. In just the past three weeks, wildlife officials near Colorado Springs have killed two mama bears and accompanying cubs because they were foraging in or near homes. It seems that there has to be a better way to alter the bear’s behavior.
A new mean to tag and track such bears is possible. If the tag fed its signal into a tracking mechanism that was shared alerts with the community, the wildlife officers could harness the help of the crowd to alter the bear’s behavior. If the bears were to come back, an application could alert only the local residents nearest the bears. The citizen’s ability to see the bear location on a map would ensure that they stay safely away from harm, while altering their own behavior to be anti-bear. Alerted homeowners could then bang some pots and make sure their trash is secured. I’m no animal expert, but I’d guess that repeated harassment, and no easy pickings, would help dissuade those bears from foraging again.
The current state of geospatial technology can easily address this real-time mapping and tracking application. The thought also ties into current technology trends that harness social networking tools to forge better communities through participatory communication. The technology barriers are minimal, and the cost should be rather low as well. Very little infrastructure would be necessary, and very few animal control resources would be needed.
Such an approach is also inline with the increasing move toward self-enabled governance and community management. Rather than rely on expert authorities who are stretched thin by their mandate to respond and take charge. Those same experts could harness the help of the community to do their jobs more effectively. I’m certain that all wildlife personnel would rather have rehabilitated bears than to end lives. Why not harness available tools to address this problem?
