OLD FORGE, N.Y. — Tom Murphy, famous Yellowstone wildlife photographer, is giving a talk at View in Old Forge to help raise money for a new bear sanctuary.
Efforts are underway to address the ongoing conflict between bears and humans in the Adirondacks.
Bears are being drawn to food left in garbage or given to them by people, according to professional wildlife photographer Tom Murphy.
Murphy said, “It’s not helping animals ever in wildlife to feed them. A fed bear is a dead bear.”
Murphy has observed how other communities have managed bear interactions and will share those experiences in a presentation at View.
He is working with the not-for-profit group Keep Our Wildlife Wild, which was created after several bears were euthanized in Old Forge.
Kurt Gardner, co-founder of Keep Our Wildlife Wild, said, “People doing the wrong behavior or crowding them, the mother is separated from the cubs, the mother charges people, becomes dangerous. Mother gets killed. No place for the cubs. The cubs get killed, too, in the process, so it’s been a heartbreaking situation that we’ve seen over and over again.”
Don Andrews, another co-founder, brought the issue to the Old Forge Town board, leading to increased fines for feeding wild animals.
The fines are now $1,000 for the first offense, $2,000 for the second and $3,000 for the third.
“That’s going to hurt somebody’s pocketbook, you know, so that’s been advertised more than I think it was in the past. We’ve got more flyers out, you know…please don’t feed the animals,” Andrews said.
Funds raised from Murphy’s presentation will support a new bear sanctuary in Madison County.
Keep Our Wildlife Wild has already collected $200,000 for the sanctuary.
Gardner said, “That just scratched the surface of what has to be done. It allows us to get the fencing and all the minimum stuff. We have yearly operating costs that we have to raise now.”
The group plans to open the sanctuary this fall and is continuing public education efforts.
“So, by feeding a bear or any wildlife, a deer or a squirrel, you’re habituating them to associate you with food, and when you do that, they think, well, you’re just a vending machine basically,” Murphy said.
Click here For more information about Tom Murphy’s presentation at View or Keep our Wildlife Wild.
For more information about Tom Murphy and his work, click here.
Learn more about Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation at adkloon.org.
Tom Murphy, the famous Yellowstone Wildlife Photographer, is giving a talk at View in Old Forge to help raise money for a new bear sanctuary.