The State Fish and Game Department is being flooded with calls about four bears in the Hanover area. Officials recently decided to trap and kill the bears after two of the animals entered a home in town.
Andrew Timmins heads the department’s bear program and says many people are calling from far away, wanting to save the animals.
Among those who want to save the bears is Gov. Chris Sununu, who, according to the Union Leader, pledged Thursday that the state will not destroy the animals.
"Don't worry, we aren't going to kill the bears," Sununu said, adding he's speaking to officials at Fish & Game about what other alternatives are available.
Bear biologist Ben Kilham, based in Lyme, says he's been getting a lot of calls too. "It’s not just today, it was all day yesterday," he says, "and emails…they’re coming from as far away as Vancouver. The word has traveled very, very rapidly on this story."
Kilham says it’s humans, not bears, that are the problem. He says residents need to secure their trash and take down bird feeders to avoid attracting the animals.
The Fish and Game department has set traps for the bears, but so far none have been caught.
