Activists call on Amazon to stop selling bear traps after 3-legged bears found in NC
A group from western North Carolina wants Amazon to stop selling bear traps online after reports of several bears in the Asheville area missing limbs.
A petition on the Change.org website calls on the online retail giant and owner Jeff Bezos to stop selling the steel-jaw traps, snares and bear attractant.
The petition, started Jan. 1, has gotten more than 9,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning. It’s from a group called Help Asheville Bears, which has shared photos of bears in the North Carolina mountains with missing limbs.
The group says these type of jaw traps are responsible for maiming bears in the North Carolina mountains.
“These bears with missing limbs might have suffered this fate because of products sold by Amazon. In addition, our pets and children are at risk-as they could easily step into a trap. With Amazon’s customer outreach, anyone can be trapping within days near you and hurting the things you love,” the petition states.
McClatchy News has reached out to Amazon for comment.
The group is also offering a $50,000 reward to help find who is using bear traps in the Asheville area, the organization said.
It is illegal to trap black bears in the United States with foothold traps, according to the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.
It is legal to use these spring-loaded traps in North Carolina for other animals, including coyotes, bobcats and raccoons.
Not everyone is convinced traps are responsible for the three-legged bears found in western North Carolina.
“Bears get hit by cars all the time, and unfortunately bears with three legs is not uncommon,” wildlife biologist Justin McVey told WLOS last year. “They adapt very well, and they can live a successful life.”
“Most of the traps that are used these days are too small for that bear paw to even go into,” McVey said, Mountain Xpress reported. “If it was to snap on a bear, it might get a toe, but that’s not what’s happening.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 9:12 AM.
