Meet Felicia aka Bear 863...she and her cubs may be put to death in less than 2 weeks! Please Read!

Felicia and her new cubs of year 

This blog post is to inform you about a situation that I feel deeply about. I've always loved wildlife, especially bears. This particular bear is in trouble and she has done nothing except being a bear. Today I will be sharing with you many items that will explain Felicia's plight and why people need to get involved and help.

First, you need to meet Felicia and learn why she is being threatened. Also know, two years ago she was hazed and lost one of her cubs named Salt and then her other cub, Pepper, was lost for a month. Mom and Pepper were somehow miraculously reunited and went to den in the winter. Sadly, last year she came out by herself. No one knows what happened. We don't want to see these new cubs suffer the same fate as their siblings.

This Bear of Many Names 

In a few short days, this bear will die. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other interagency wildlife management partners will euthanize her. All for the crime of simply being a bear in the wrong place.

This bear has many names - she’s referred to as Felicia, as the Togwotee Sow, as Bear #863 - the list goes on and on. 

For years, this bear has made her home along a stretch of highway just outside of Grand Teton National Park, where clovers and sedges provide ample food in the spring and summer months and the busy road offers her and her cubs security against predatory male bears. Each season, thousands of visitors have the honor of viewing this bear safely from the roadside while witnessing her behaving naturally and comfortably in a location where she knows she is safe.

But now, she is no longer safe. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service alongside other wildlife management agencies have made the decision to euthanize her if she returns to the roadside after concentrated efforts to haze her away. This bear has done nothing but be a bear. And for that, she will die.

Unless you step in. 

With your help, we can save this bear. 

We invite you to share this social media campaign on all of your social channels. We’ve uploaded content and story-slides for you to utilize, along with info and back story so you can familiarize yourself. 

Your involvement is crucial, because this issue extends far beyond one specific bear in one specific place. By making a stand here, we are paving the way to demand better wildlife management in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and beyond. Humans must find a way to coexist with wildlife. The conversation starts here.

Thank you,

BB and all the other friends of Felicia, far and wide.

Here's a video of Felicia as she's

nursing her cubs a few weeks ago.

She's a wonderful Mama Bear!

There are many who have put so eloquently into words about this situation, and with their permission I'm sharing to better inform my readers.

By Arthur Leforestier:

On the topic of bear 863 aka Felicia and the recent article that has been shared....

This article is framing this as a people issue when in reality it is a bear management issue. I have been present throughout the spring at many of these sightings and I can assure you that the forest service is literally too lazy to deal with bear jams. I have heard them say word for word “we just don’t want to deal with this”.

Felicia aka 863 is a great bear. She has not gotten into any human food. She has not charged a human and made contact. She has not entered human habitations. She has not even bothered campers on Togwotee pass. She simply GRAZES by the road because of the safety it provides for her and her cubs from larger bears in the area which will quickly kill her offspring.

Photographers or not - Felicia is going to remain by the road because of SAFETY. Mark my words she will not leave the road because it’s a matter of survival. Photographers will leave her alone these coming weeks and she will continue to refuse leaving the roadside.

This WILL UNFORTUNATELY LIKELY result in her demise and euthanasia - not because of people admiring bears but because of lazy bear management by a government agency that does not wish to manage the bear the way the national parks do. In fact, they are so lazy that they have said that if relocation were to lead to her setting foot once again on a road (which she will) that it would result in her instant euthanasia.... SINCE WHEN is it not ok for a bear to simply be near a road? This is their country and they are getting killed because of our mismanagement and refusal to learn how to coexist with this amazing animals.

Jackson has millionaires and billionaires and thousands of people who deeply care about wildlife and this bear in particular - we are capable of raising funds to implement a bear brigade on Togwotee pass the same way the national parks manage their roadside bears. This has been proposed to the agencies involved but they have dismissed the idea. The problem is that the bureaucratic b***s*** and lazy management refuses to entertain anything other than their own prescribed processes and ideology.

Again, this bear has done nothing wrong. She is being hazed for trying to keep her young safe. She is no different than 399 when it comes to her roadside tendencies - the only difference lies in the agency with oversight on these bears, one in a national park and one on a random road. This will be framed against lovers of the wild, photographers, and tourists who simply wish to experience the wonders of seeing these animals (which in turn inspires their conservation). In reality, we are witnessing a direct violation of the Endangered Species Act as a result of incompetent and outdated management.

Animals. Doing animal things. In animal places. That is what is happening. That is why Felicia is being hazed and maybe that is why she will be killed.

And a link to the post directly so you can view the discussion in the comments section: https://www.facebook.com/groups/324724474266342/permalink/5725016530903749/

Here is another wonderful write-up by Ronnie Sue Ambrosino with

sound advice what people can do to help.

Ronnie Sue Ambrosino

15h  · Change.org  · 

**CALL TO ACTION**

Most of you have seen my pictures of this beautiful bear. She is the mother of two small new cubs and feels comfortable living near the highway. This is good for her because it protects her cubs from the male bears who want to kill them. This is a natural phenomena, when the sow (female bear)has no cubs the boar (male bear) can entice her more easily.Because of her desire to be near the road thousands of people have flocked to see her. This causes traffic problems on a major highway used by 18 wheel truckers and is unsafe for the drivers, tourists, and the Bears.

There’s an active movement right now by federal and local government to haze the bears (including rubber bullets)for 14 days straight in an effort to chase them deeper into the woods, into the unsafe areas where the males reside. That could be disastrous to two little cubs. They feel that if the bears aren’t visible to traffic then visitors will stop going to see them - even if it means the cubs will die.

I’m writing this for two reasons: the first one to ask those of you in the area to please not go visit the bears. If this is what the parks department and state troopers want, it may just help save the lives of these three bears. 

***Please don’t drive to see the Bears***

The second reason I’m writing is to ask you to please sign this petition and share it on your Facebook page as well. Anyone can do this easily. You don’t need to be in the parks, or live in Wyoming/Montana, or even be a photographer. If you have compassion for wildlife, for nature, or for any living being please consider signing and sharing.

Thanks for helping to keep wildlife alive

Please click this link to take action NOW. https://linktr.ee/advocateforwildlife

I hope that you will now take a few short minutes to sign the petition and send an email encouraging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do the right thing and protect this Grizzly bear and her 2 cubs.

SIGN NOW: http://chng.it/LdM64yw2NZ

Thank you so much for reading!!