Idaho Taxidermists Association Helping Idaho Fish & Game Make Grizzly Education Bearable
OutdoorHub 06.07.11
BOISE- When it comes to educating the public about bear identification, seeing is believing. The Be Bear Aware program sponsored by the Center for Wildlife Information (CWI) has developed a unique bear education trailer concept for reaching out to the public about bears. With CWI’s help, Idaho Fish & Game has been developing their own bear education outreach trailer. The trailers contain a wide variety of hands-on teaching tools, but the centerpieces of each trailer are full-sized grizzly and black bear mounts. The Idaho trailer has been under construction for nearly a year, but lacked a grizzly mount. Thanks to a grizzly hide donated by Wyoming Game & Fish, the Idaho trailer will be completed next week after the annual Idaho Taxidermists Association (ITA) convention in Boise. The ITA taxidermists will be donating their time and talents to mount the bear throughout their convention and the public is invited to attend and see how it is done.
This year the show will be held at the Doubletree Hotel, Riverside at 2900 Chinden Blvd, in Boise. It will be open to the public on Friday, June 10th from noon to 8 pm and on Saturday, June 11th from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission is $3, children under 12 are free.
The taxidermists are planning on mounting the bear in the exhibit area, so the public will be able to watch the process unfold. Once the work is completed, the grizzly will join a full-size black bear already residing in the trailer. The trailer will be appearing at fairs and other public events throughout the state, but primarily in the areas within the Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Similar work has been donated by taxidermists to create educational mounts as part of the Be Bear Aware program. According to Chuck Bartlebaugh, Director of CWI, “The work and skill donated by the taxidermists has been critical to the development of these highly successful education outreach mounts!”
To learn more about the Idaho Taxidermists Assoc & Convention:
www.idahotaxidermistsassoc.com
Contact:
Gregg Losinski at 208-390-0635 for information
