The Daily Progress is reporting that a 120-pound female black bear that was infected with rabies, attacked two men working in a nearby area. One man killed the bear at point blank range with a shotgun loaded with bird shot. As I have come to expect, the usual talking points are tossed around to dispel any attempts of concern from people. Near the start of the report, an official from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), said, “It’s almost unheard of,”.
Probably so but from my perspective I think a few more questions should be considered and addressed from a scientific perspective and not one based in emotions or the widespread desire to protect all animals regardless and in particular predators. Let’s examine some statements and, if nothing else, raise a few questions.
Authorities say they believe this is the first ever reported or confirmed case of rabies in a black bear in Virginia. I have no reason to doubt that assumption. Authorities warned people to “only become alarmed if the bears exhibit highly unusual behavior.” While good advice, bears and other animals can be rabid and not be displaying the obvious and unusual behavior this bear did. Officials should bring that point up.
We also read this statement:
But authorities doubt there are any more rabid bears out there.
And why not? Is their doubt based on current knowledge of what’s going on or are they relying strictly on any notion that there has never been another known case? Consider more statements.
Just to have one is really unusual, and it would be, I think, near impossible for another bear to have it.
In past history, this may be true. But, what if conditions have changed on the ground? What if some things that “naturally” may have overwhelmingly reduced any chances of a bear contracting rabies and the odds of that bear passing it on, have changed to increase those odds?
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries states, according to the article:
The most likely way for a bear to get rabies is, just as for a human, a bite from some other animal that’s already infected.
Logic would tell us that if the bear contracted rabies by being bitten by another rabid animal (VDGIF tells us that raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes and the leading culprits) that if those animals that normally contract rabies grew in numbers, the odds of the bear contracting rabies would increase.
Another statement by a VDGIF officials:
Bears are solitary most of the time, so they aren’t likely to transmit rabies to one another.
What if that “most of the time” got reduced to “some of the time” because of certain conditions, i.e. more bears, more coyotes, more racoons, etc.?
Officials, in attempting to explain away the event and downplay it, using information they received immediately from the dead bear, concluded, “It’s really unlikely that she [the female bear] was around any other bears.” I revert back to my previous claim that that level of unlikelihood diminishes with an increase in bear population. The conclusion appears to be based on their supposition that the bear was alone and that bears are usually alone, that the bear did not have cubs and that Virginia is not in the middle of breeding season. Are officials also not considering that there may be more rabies in other species? Authorities claim no increase in reported cases of rabies in other animals, but that doesn’t always tell the real story.
There’s certainly no need to cause some kind of panic here about rabid bears running out of the woods to kill people, but there are some facts people should consider, including fish and wildlife officials. Predator protection has become vogue in this country and worldwide. With this predator protection, populations of predators such as bears, coyotes, wolves, foxes, etc. increase. With an increased population the odds go up considerably for the spread of infectious diseases, including rabies, simply because the odds increase that these animals will run into each other more often.
Consider also that rabid animals’ behavior changes and they think nothing of attacking something for seemingly no reason; the bear attacking the two men are an example. A rabid coyote would think nothing of attacking a bear and spreading rabies. Odds may be slim but under the right circumstances, those odds can be significantly reduced.
In addition to the predator protection efforts by groups and individuals, people post their land and don’t want anyone on their property hunting and trapping. This causes increased populations of animals that will carry rabies.
Reduced numbers of hunters and trappers overall, combined with efforts from anti-hunting and animal rights organizations, adds to the increase in the numbers of all game species, often to unhealthy levels.
Each state’s fish and wildlife department, if they are doing their jobs thoroughly, will have a good handle on the conditions on the ground; that is if they ever get out of the office and in the field. If I were at VDGIF, I wouldn’t be spending so much time telling the citizens how rare it is for a bear to contract rabies. I would be considering that being that it is so rare, what’s going on that it happened?
Tom Remington
