The Superior National Forest has issued a special warning about black bears on several Boundary Waters lakes. Officials say they have received several reports of bears taking or damaging camping gear, particularly food packs.
The black bear known to a devoted Internet following as Hope has been confirmed dead, shot by a bear hunter near Ely, MN as had been speculated.
A yearling bear whose birth in the wild in 2010 was broadcast via web-cam on the Internet may have been killed by a hunter recently near Ely.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is urging caution over recent incidents of aggressive or threatening behavior by black bears in the Ely area.
A rule requiring the Department of Natural Resources to ask bear hunters not to shoot radio-collared bears was removed from the Minnesota Legislature’s recently passed omnibus game and fish bill.