Post by grrraaahhh on Sept 28, 2011 13:56:33 GMT -9
The bear "born on the internet" is believed to have been shot and killed by a hunter in Minnesota,
US.
Hope was recognised internationally after her birth was filmed and broadcast live via a webcam in 2010.
The black bear and her mother Lily were subjects of a study by US biologist Dr Lynn Rogers and featured in the BBC documentary The Bear Family and Me.
Recreational hunting is permitted by licence in the state but hunters are asked not to shoot collared bears.
Dr Rogers and his colleagues at the Wildlife Research Institute were tracking 13 bears, each wearing identifying collars.
Using the GPS tracker in Hope's mother Lily's collar, the researchers confirmed her visits to a known hunter's bait site, but they could not account for the rest of the family.
The biologists have been working with the Minnesota Department for Natural Resources (DNR) who licence hunting in the state.
A hunter has now contacted the research team to confirm that he killed a yearling female in the area on 16 September.
[.....]
For more, please read here: www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15075332