LACONIA, N.H. -- A police officer mistakenly shot a mother bear over the weekend based on reports she'd been hit by a car, police said.
The bear shot on Saturday had frequented the land behind Fun Spot for months, picking though trash to feed herself and her two cubs.
Bears are a common sight in the Lakes Region this time of year, especially where food-laden trash bins are out in the open, authorities said.
Police said the officer acted to protect himself and Fun Spot patrons. Fish and Game Department officials and Fun Spot owners said they doubted the bear was dangerous, but they blamed miscommunication, not the police, for her death.
"We're very sad about it," said Fun Spot owner Sandra Lawton. "But we really want to turn it around."
Lt. William Clary said an officer arrived at the arcade and walked toward the bear, which was motionless at the base of a tall tree. The officer, he said, didn't notice any cubs as he approached the animal. He got within 15 yards of the tree, and the bear moved.
"That's when he took the shot," Clary said. "He was afraid the bear was going into the parking lot."
Fish and Game officials knew the Laconia police were investigating reports of an injured bear, but they couldn't immediately send a Fish and Game officer because of a double drowning in Gilmanton that kept them busy.
When they learned the animal was dead, officers contacted Andrew Timmins, the department's bear project leader. The bear, Timmins said, didn't appear to have been injured before she was shot and had stuck close to the tree to protect her cubs.
"We call them 'nurse trees,'" he said. "The sow (female bear) will put the cubs up a tree where they're safe and take a nap. The cops saw the bear there and thought that because she wasn't getting up and moving, she'd been run over."
It took more than a day to coax the cubs down from the tree after their mother was shot. They will likely be released into the wild in late summer, Timmins said.
Lawton was researching new trash receptacles to help prevent a similar incident.
"Our Dumpster right now is an open Dumpster, which is the same as giving them a buffet," she said. "I'm no bear expert, but I know they'll go to the easiest food there is."
Well, Funspot, lock up your garbage and maybe that wont happen again.
Posted by: JoninNH
Who got to eat the bear steaks?
Posted by: NewEngland2007
Ooops, just a little boo boo there.
Posted by: DodgeRam
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Posted by: Inspector
LACONIA, N.H. - Based on the information he had, a city police officer was justified in shooting a mother bear whose cubs were hidden from view above her, according to the state's top conservation officer.
"Everybody is the Monday morning quarterback on this," said Fish and Game Major Tim Acerno. "I don't expect any police officer to know wildlife behavior. Their job is public safety."
He said the officer was responding to a report of a male bear injured by a car Saturday on Route 3 near Funspot in the Weirs Beach section of Laconia. The officer spotted a bear, unmoving, next to a tree and came within 15 feet of it. Acerno said the bear stood up and the officer shot the animal.
The cubs weren't discovered until Fish and Game officials arrived later. The cubs were coaxed down from the tree the next day and likely will be released into the wild in late summer, said Andrew Timmins, the Fish and Game department's bear project leader.
Police Chief Tom Oetinger said the person who called police did not see the bear get hit by a car but believed incorrectly that it had been injured. Fish and Game officials could not get to the scene immediately because they were responding to a drowning in Gilmanton. A conservation officer told police that if the bear appeared injured to "put it down," Oetinger said.
Timmins said the bear was sticking close to the tree to protect her cubs.
"We call them 'nurse trees,' " he said. "The (female bear) will put the cubs up a tree where they're safe and take a nap. The cops saw the bear there and thought that because she wasn't getting up and moving, she'd been run over."
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