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Is it legal to wrestle a bear in Missouri?
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ST. LOUIS – It’s that time of year again to be bear-aware. Missouri conservation agents say bears are very active throughout the spring, and their presence around the St. Louis metro seems to be growing in recent years.
Human encounters with bears are not particularly common, but they can happen if you venture out into the wilderness. Some have even been spotted along Missouri streets in recent years.
What should you do if you happen to be nearby a bear? Trying to minimize head-on interactions or sources of conflict could mitigate a scary situation. In contrast, authorities say it’s not a good idea to make contact with the bear. And to some extent, how you do so can even be illegal in Missouri, even if you leave the encounter unscathed.
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The Salem Police Department in Dent County said it recently received multiple calls about a bear sighting near a rural road. While acknowledging this in a Facebook post, police shared an important piece of advice:
“Please do not wrestle the bear if you come in contact. Bear wrestling is illegal in the state of Missouri.”
Is it true that bear wrestling is illegal in Missouri? The Salem Police Department is indeed correct, according to Missouri state statues.
Per Missouri statute 578.176, “a person commits the offense of bear wrestling” if they promote, conduct or stage bear wrestling, permits bear wrestling to be done on any premise under their control or literally wrestle a bear. Anyone accused of such offense could face a Class A misdemeanor.
Nexstar affiliate WHNT in Huntsville, Alabama came to a similar conclusion on the matter of bear wrestling in their state.
WHNT found the practice of humans wrestling bears became common in the 20th century, mostly for entertainment purposes rather than by pure chance of survival. The practice is allegedly how famous Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant got his nickname. It’s also portrayed in fictional movies like Will Ferrell-starred film Semi-Pro.
Later in the 20th century, animal rights activists started taking notice. It wasn’t until 1996 that bear wrestling was deemed illegal in Alabama. Many states, like Missouri, followed up with similar laws around that timeframe.
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It’s worth noting that Missouri’s statue also makes it illegal to collect admission fees for wrestling a bear, purchase a bear for the purpose of wrestling it, train a bear for wrestling or expose a bear to surgery in anticipation of wrestling. The specific statute with all of these rules was last updated in January 2017.
On a related note, the Missouri Department of Conservation advises the public to never offer bears food as it could lead them to search for more food and damage property along the way.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.
Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.
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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.
According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.
Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.
Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.
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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.
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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.
The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.
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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.
A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.
The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.
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