Author: Gosia Bryja

In the Western context, the fear of wild animals reflects our distorted perception of risk, not the risk itself. Unfortunately, this is a consequential fallacy that victimizes carnivores. 

Claiming scientific impartiality in wildlife management is an illusion. Preferences, biases, and emotions inform the mindsets of all the actors, regardless of their position. The question is not who is driven by objective science and who is not, but rather whose values and beliefs deserve greater consideration.

We are numb to numbers. In the aftermath of a tragedy, it is the fate of the individual not the scale of suffering that elicits compassion and mobilizes us into action.

Black bears can be both a thrilling and feared presence in urban neighbourhoods. In the vast majority of cases, the risk that they pose to the public does not warrant lethal management.

Current conservation policies are driven by irrational fears, reluctance to inconvenience ourselves in co-existence with nature, and resistance to challenging the status quo.