Bad idea to possess wildlife (illegal, too)

Hunting bears is legal, but it is illegal to possess a live bear, even if your intentions are noble.

Robert Baysinger of Marshall found a young bear last spring which he said was imperiled from a controlled burn he conducted on his property near Witts Springs, in Searcy County. He took it home and cared for it for six months.

“Fire was everywhere,” Baysinger said. “I heard something screaming. The little bear was about to burn up. She couldn’t walk. I brought her home and put her in a box. She growed like a weed.”

Acting on a tip, wildlife officers for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission confiscated the bear and cited Baysinger for unlawful possession of wildlife. Cpl. Chris Majors, a wildlife officer for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said the bear was taken to a rehabilitation facility at an undisclosed location. It lives in an enclosure where it has no physical or visual contact with humans. Majors said the bear is developing an aversion to people, and there is some hope that the bear can successfully be released back to the wild.

Baysinger became very attached to the bear and said he considers it a part of his family. He is fighting to regain possession of the bear, which he said he wants to repatriate to the wild on his property.

That is not going to happen, Majors said. Section 09.01 of the Arkansas Wildlife Code states that is unlawful to possess, hold captive, confine or enclose any live wildlife. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recently amended the code to extend that prohibition to whitetailed deer.

Baysinger said he does not know who turned him in. He said it could have been anybody.

“I didn’t try to hide her,” he said.

Majors said Baysinger drove around the county with the bear riding in the cab of his truck.

“He was taking it to the feed store, the hardware store, all kinds of places,” Majors said.

Besides being illegal, Majors said that keeping a bear will ultimately prove dangerous to Baysinger and anyone it contacts.

“They’re really cute when they’re little, but when they get big, they’re not so cute anymore,” Majors said.

Majors said that a bear raised and hand-fed by a human will likely associate people with food and other positive stimuli. Consequently, it will probably always be attracted to people, and will thus be a continual nuisance.

“The best intentions can ultimately be a death sentence for bears and other wildlife,” Majors said.

Baysinger said caring for a bear in his home is no different than hunters who attract bears to their property with bait.

Majors said that comparison is faulty. Bears do come to bait, he acknowledged, but they do not take bait directly from human hands, nor do they associate bait with people.

“And,” Majors added, “bears that come to bait often get killed, so they don’t live long enough to associate people with food.”

Majors advised anyone who finds animal babies to leave them alone.