Bears Killed By Chocolate Overdose

More and more bears die due to chocolate overdose, as hunters are using extremely large quantities of sweets as baits.

Chocolate has to be one of the most delicious treats in the world, and not only humans know it, but bears do as well. Bears are in love with the taste of chocolate and simply cannot resist the temptation.During the autumn hunting season, bears are attracted to chocolate like magnets and feel the need to eat a lot, to store their bodies with fat for the winter hibernation, explained Wild Life Program Supervisor, for the fish and game department, Kent Gustafson.

Hunters are aware of the black bear’s sweet tooth and they have been using chocolate as bait to draw the wild animals out of the woods. But several unfortunate events, lead the New Hampshire authorities to put its foot down. Four black bears have been found dead at a trapping site, and the cause of death was related to an overdose of chocolate.

The situation leading to such a tragic ending, has alarmed the wild life authorities which will start developing a plan for preventing future animal deaths.

“Given the circumstances, we certainly don’t want to see something like this happen again”(…) “I expect we will have a proposal to deal with this sometime next month,” said Kent Gustafson.

In September 2014, four black bears, out of which two were cubs, have been found dead at a distance of 50 feet from the place where a hunter had placed close to 100 pounds of chocolate and doughnuts to serve as bait, stated wildlife authorities.

The bodies of the bears had been taken for an autopsy, at the University of New Hampshire. The results of the medical tests, confirmed the animals had died because of heart failure, after an overdose of theobromine. Apparently the bears had consumed up to 90 pounds of chocolate and doughnuts. Theobromine is an ingredient naturally found in chocolate, and poisoning can occur from eating large quantities of chocolate.

According to officials, these have been the first bears found dead in New Hampshire, but Michigan has dealt with similar wild life, situations before, with raccoons and black bears.

The decision of authorities might turn out to be the complete banning of the use of chocolate in bear bait or allowing hunters to use small quantities of sweets.

Ne Hampshire serves as home for around 4,800 bears. Along 2014, hunters in New Hampshire have killed 784 bears, during the hunting season and most of them managed by using bait and hounds to locate the animal.
Image Source: ncasafaris

Bio
Latest Posts

Christina Langfold

Remember that weird girl in school who never quite managed to fit in? Who was always silent and strange? That was me during my entire teenage life. A few years after finishing college (with a degree in arts) I decided that the best way to become more sociable, while also feeling safe, is to test my people skills online.