America A mother bear trains her cubs to attack camera traps, leaving researchers racking their brains for a way to deal with it.
The bear family repeatedly destroyed the camera trap. Video: Voyageurs Wolf Project
A group of wildlife in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota has been repeatedly destroying researchers' camera traps. The culprits are believed to be a black bear and her three cubs. The bear family was caught destroying cameras at a remote beaver pond a total of five times in the past year, Business Insider reported on September 16.
A mother bear has trained her three cubs to destroy a series of cameras. They will threaten any camera traps in the forest for years to come, according to the Voyageurs Wolf Project at the University of Minnesota. In a video recorded by authorities, the mother bear leads her family in calmly walking toward the camera before smashing or toppling the equipment. Thomas Gable, who heads the Voyageurs Wolf Project, said the bears topple and eventually destroy their cameras. "Most of the time, they just tip the camera over and then walk away. However, we have had many camera traps that have been completely destroyed by bears chewing on them," Gable said.
The team set up more than 200 camera traps to monitor wolves. According to Gable, black bears have been a bit of a hassle to operate the network. Scientists have been frustrated by cameras being repeatedly knocked over. One cub even took out his frustration on a camera trap after failing to get his mother’s attention. Gable said that it would be possible to keep bears from interfering with the cameras by placing the devices in protective metal boxes, but the process would require a lot of setup.
Black bears (scientific name Ursus americanus ) are omnivorous, adults can weigh 90 - 270 kg. Their main food includes grass, roots, berries and insects. Excellent climbing, swimming and fishing skills help black bears adapt very well to their natural habitat in North America.
In addition to black bears, the team has also had to deal with cameras being attacked by the animals they were tracking. They recently shared a four-minute video of wolves teaming up to target a roadside camera.
An Khang (According to Business Insider )
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