Baby Bear Shot Dead after People Feed Him to Take Selfies

The life of a young, black bear came to a tragic end due to too much interaction with humans, including people who took selfies with it.

According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office's (WCSO) Twitter account, attempts were made to get a baby bear back into the woods and safely away from people visiting the Scoggins Valley Park near Henry Hagg Lake in Oregon.

Several photos of people taking selfies with the bear were seen by others, encouraging the behavior. People would give the bear food like trail mix, sunflower seeds, and cracked corn.

By the time the authorities came in — after receiving two calls relating to a black bear sighting — the animal was no longer running off upon immediate contact. Still, they managed to shoo it back into the words on Thursday.

When it returned the next day, a decision was made that the animal needed to be put down. People were outraged by the act, with many wondering why they couldn't have trapped it and put it into a zoo or sanctuary.

The WSCO responded that "that wasn't a viable option" and pointed to the case as proof that "humans shouldn't feed wild bears." They were met with more disapproval, with one person even calling their response "barbaric."

Other people attacked those who left food out for the bear, habituating the bear and making him a greater danger to humans. Rick Swart, who works in the Oregon Department of Fish, said the risk was too great after that.

According to the Daily Mail, one attempt was made to trap the bears by wildlife biologists Kurt License and Doug Kitchen. Upon its failure and the bear's shooting, License said:

"This is a classic example of why we implore members of the public not to feed bears. While the individuals who put food out for this bear may have had good intentions bears should never, ever be fed."

Last year July, another bear was shot to death for attacking a human, but there was still a lot of backlash online following what happened. It happened during a cruise near the Spitsbergen island in Norway.

When the MS Bremen cruise ship landed on the Arctic archipelago, a cruise ship guard stepped onto the island and was attacked by a polar bear. The animal was shot in self-defense.

The German Hapag Lloyd Cruises Company were forced to explain themselves online when people got upset at the killing of the native creature in its own territory.

Comedian and activist Ricky Gervais condemned the act and pointed out the irony of people going to the bear's natural habitat only to have to shoot it because it got too close.