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Well written article...thanks for that!

I want to make the point that so many don't seem to understand. Dr. Rogers does NOT "possess" the research bears at all. They are wild and often choose not to come to him when he needs to briefly tend to their collars (GPS battery changes). He tries again the next day and perhaps they decide to approach and eat a few nuts or grapes while he works on the collar. The WRI research bears are wild and are not possessed or made pets of! When people call them "circus bears" or show pictures of "kissing" or otherwise close interaction between a bear and Dr. Rogers, that is TED, a captive bear who has resided at North American Bear Center for approx. a decade. He and another bear (female-"Honey") were bought and raised from cubs by a private party in WI. When unable to care for them as adults, Dr. Rogers gave them a home at NABC. They have never lived as wild bears! Then Lucky joined them about 7 years ago. He was a Wisconsin bear cub, too. Again someone had him but couldn't take care for him and he couldn't be released so again Dr. Rogers gave him a home. All 3 bears have different personalities, but Ted is the old male who initiates interaction and loves attention from Dr. Rogers...who isn't at NABC except occasionally and there have been pictures and videos made of them together. They are NOT circus bears performing tricks. They never have been "wild bears" nor will they ever be. They are NOT RESEARCH BEARS and don't wear collars. They live in a fenced enclosure of several acres, so they are "possessed" but it's what they NEED and they are well fed and cared for. Most of all, the permit to "possess" them (if that word is so in question) is issued by the Dept. of Agriculture....NOT the MN DNR.

It's either willful ignorance or intentional that some people (even the media at times) insist on mixing the bears and making it appear that Dr. Rogers is physically interacting with the Research Bears - DNR permit (WILD bears) when the "evidence" is actually his interacting with a Captive bear at NABC - Dept. of Agriculture permit.

Much of the "information" the DNR based their case on against Rogers was mistaken, misinterpreted and misinformation ... in part because none of the current DNR "officials" have ever bothered to accept Dr. Rogers invitations to tour NABC and meet the "captive" bears who live there, nor have any of them....even their ace biologist Dave Garshelis ... bothered to visit the WRI Field Station and actually spend some time with Dr. Rogers out in the woods while interacting with the wild bears using "trust" not "tranq" (which is Garshelis' style)....nobody at the MN DNR even knows for sure what Rogers and Mansfield DO out there with the wild bears which they do NOT "possess". It's shocking how the DNR has behaved and built a case on a lot of false evidence (and interacted with non-credible people feeding them "information") ...and now a judge has to try to figure out the truth, when there really is so very little of that on the DNR's side. Worse yet, the DNR has the final say...and the Commish has firmly stated he will NOT issue another permit no matter what.

This is JUSTICE? The bears are the real losers.... how many have freely contributed to important behavioral research, only to be killed to *stop Lynn Rogers*... many people seem to do everything in their power to STOP education. Nothing good in life ever comes from being mean-spirited and willfully ignorant.