Betsy Allen: Bear was only doing what comes naturally, protecting her young

Re “Bears put down after attack” (Page 1A, Sept. 27): Way to go California Department of Fish & Wildlife! A mother bear with cubs nearby mauls a human, whom she probably presumes is threatening her cubs, in her natural environment! What aberrant, horrible behavior! We must kill this bear? While we’re at it, let’s kill a few more because they might be her, but we can’t tell until we trap them and have to kill them.

Here’s a hint: if you want to live in the mountains or foothills, there are a lot of creatures that were there first. Some of them can hurt you. Should we also go out and kill all the mountain lions, rattlesnakes and scorpions if a human is hurt by their natural behavior? We can protect smelt and fairy shrimp in their natural environment (at the expense of humans), but five bears have to be killed because one acted on her natural instincts?

This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Betsy Allen: Bear was only doing what comes naturally, protecting her young."