Jan 11, 2008 3:35 pm US/Central
Minn. Woman Offers $1,000 To Leave Bear Alone
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) ―
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Melanie Vittitow has made a standing offer to the owner of the northern Minnesota cabin under which Solo is hibernating. If the cabin owner lets the bear stay, Vittitow will write a $1,000 check. (File)
CBS
A good winter's rest for Solo the bear and her cubs could cost a
Hermantown, Minn. woman $1,000 -- and she won't mind a bit.
Melanie
Vittitow has made a standing offer to the owner of the northern Minnesota cabin under which Solo is hibernating. If the cabin owner lets the bear stay,
Vittitow will write a check.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says that Solo and her cubs have lost their fear of humans and need to be moved to an undisclosed location, perhaps an enclosed wildlife sanctuary.
Solo, so named because she has only one ear, has been hibernating under the cabin in Eagles Nest Township between Tower and Ely. Local residents believe she is still there.
Vittitow said she believes moving the bear to a wildlife sanctuary could be "a death sentence for her and the cubs," because Solo wouldn't fit in with other bears who had been born or raised in captivity.
Vittitow said Solo was one of the bears that helped her overcome a lifelong fear of the animals. She saw the animal during a four-day bear workshop in Ely last spring. "She's a special bear to me,"
Vittitow said.
Vittitow made her offer in a recent letter to the editor in the
Timberjay newspaper.
Eagles Nest Township board Chairman Dan
Humay said that most local people believe that Solo and her cubs will be moved, whether they agree with that decision or not.
"A number of people have accepted the decision that has been made, and though they're not thrilled about it, they are relieved that the
bear's life has been spared,"
Humay said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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