Dear Ms.

Belinda Bearsworth,

Good afternoon, my name is Cali Hopp and I am an environmentalist who specializes in

studying bears and bear populations. After reading your report “Bears, Friend or Foe: A Fresh

Look at an Old Argument” I decided to write to you to address the errors and inconsistencies in

your writing. As this is a published article for National Geographic Special Edition: Bears I

highly encourage you to revise sections of your writing in order to make it more factual. After

some revision your report may be better accepted into the scientific community as a properly

researched article about bears.

I would like to start by discussing some of the facts that you have included in your paper.

Many are untrue or lack important context. Untrue or Misleading facts decrease the quality of

your writing. You have described Colorado as being infested with bears and that the people of

Colorado are generally afraid of them. It is true that Colorado has a quite large bear population,

however, it would be a very general statement to say that all people in Colorado must take

precautions because all bears are an active threat. In reality only about 270 bears have had to be

relocated from residential areas in 2022. This sounds like a lot but 270 bears is only about 1.5%

of the total population in Colorado. Of the bears the vast majority were just scrounging for meals

and were not actually causing any kind of harm to humans. Bears are animals and when they

occasionally wander into human residential areas they are not having the intention to cause harm

and will often choose not to unless threatened. Stating that because you know three people who

have had bear problems does not make it an overarching fact. This idea is better known as a

hasty generalization fallacy and is something to be avoided and it may be in your best interest to

replace this with a statistic from a reviewed database. In contrast to that you stated that residents
of Tanzania do not have conflicts with bear populations. This is an ineffective and misleading

comparison. There are no current bear populations native to Tanzania. This means that you are

comparing an area with a large bear population to an area with no bears. You are also implying

that Tanzania has bears which is false. After knowing the facts of this comparison you have

made it would appear that you have created a false dilemma fallacy, meaning you took two

vastly different options and compared them forgetting the nuances. You also included that you

believe bears hibernate as a result of seasonal depression. This is simply untrue. I would advise

that during the research portions of your papers you use more reputable sources. Studies of bears

have shown that they hibernate as a result of worse weather conditions and a decreased food

supply, not to hide their emotions. Bears also do not hibernate for the entire winter; they have

awake windows during hibernation. Please consider replacing your hibernation information as it

is very misleading.

Aside from including some misleading information I would like to address some points

and non-fact filler that you may want to reconsider keeping in your report. In many places in

your report you seem to try to include humorous statements such as “their relentlessness is in

pursuit of knowledge” or “outside the bounds of commonly accepted human behavior”. This

report is meant to be a part of a scientific journal and it may be in your, and your readers best

interest to remain concise and factual. The humor diminishes your credibility and removes the

reader from the seriousness of the topic you are covering. Along this same point the third

paragraph of your report includes an argument for loving bears based solely on a bear's

understanding of mental health. You may want to find a different way to construct this argument.

Bears do not experience emotions of mental health disorders the same as humans. They also do

not have an understanding of human thoughts, feelings, and disorder. It is a disservice to your
audience to have a large portion of your argument based on untrue information. People read this

with the intention to learn and having false information will lead to a large number of people

spreading false news. Within the same argument for the positives of bears you include fictional

bears such as the Berenstain Bears, Paddington, and Winnie the Pooh. These bears originate

from cartoons which are written and designed by humans. They do not feature real physical or

behavioral characteristics of bears. Humanizing bears takes away from your point about the

positives of bears within their natural environments. This shows the audience that there may be a

lack of positive traits for bears due to you having very limited research supported evidence.

Bears do have many redeeming qualities about them. They are incredibly intelligent animals who

use curiosity and play to continue developing. They have found ways to utilize tools to aid their

survival. Even as cubs it is found that they use these items alone and with other cubs for play and

survival. Bears are also extremely important to the environment. They serve as ecosystem

engineers; their foraging habits help spread seeds and grow new plants. They are vital links in

the food web in predator prey relations and don't allow prey species to overpopulate. In your fifth

paragraph you create a compromise stating that people should see bears as complex creatures in

a positive light. In a research paper it may be more beneficial to allow your audience to make the

decision of how they view bears on their own. You have created a middle ground fallacy by

creating a compromise and excluding the detailed nuances. My recommendation would be to

remove this fallacy. Your conclusion may also be something to explore further. Including

phrases such as “bearhood” and a quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt does take away from

your overall point. Trying to appeal to patriotism may not be the best stance to take in a scientific

research essay because you are meant to be writing facts and this tone shift makes your essay

feel persuasive instead of factual.

 After reading my letter I hope you consider adding some revisions to your report. I would

love to see some edits that include factual details and exclude the inconsistencies and irrational

points. Bears are creatures which are misunderstood and deserve to be properly represented in

scientific media. Using scientific articles may be a more beneficial way to find facts that support

your point without including logical fallacies. I am hopeful you will make some changes and I

look forward to reading your revised article.

Thank you for your time, Cali Hopp

 Works Cited

“Are There Any Bears in Africa? And Where Are They Hiding?” Africa Freak,

https://africafreak.com/bears-in-africa. Accessed 25 October 2023.

Briggs, Ann. “Bears in Colorado: What Kind Of Bears Live in Colorado?” Outforia, 26

March 2022, https://outforia.com/bears-in-colorado/. Accessed 25 October 2023.

Krebs, Natalie. “Bear Hibernation: Facts and Myths from the Den.” Outdoor Life, 5 April

2023, https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/bear-hibernation-denning-facts/. Accessed 25

October 2023.

Livingston, Joseph. “Help Reduce Human/Bear Conflict - 2022 Colorado Bear Conflict

Report.” Colorado Outdoors, 18 February 2023,

https://coloradooutdoorsmag.com/2023/02/18/help-reduce-human-bear-conflict-2022-

colorado-bear-conflict-report/. Accessed 25 October 2023.

“Understanding & Managing Bears - Bears (U.S.” National Park Service, 18 April 2016,

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/managing.htm. Accessed 25 October 2023.