An animal rights group in North Carolina is offering a $5,000 reward after a black bear was reportedly spotted with a campaign sticker of President Donald Trump on its tracking collar.
Help Asheville Bears, located in Asheville, North Carolina, on Friday shared photos of a black bear with the sticker, which states “Trump 2020 Keep America Great” with an American flag.
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The bear was spotted by Sheila Chapman, who told ABC News 13 in Asheville that bear sightings are fairly common, but this instance was surprising.
Chapman notified Help Asheville Bears after taking photos, the TV station reported.
“We have so many places in this world to put stickers and express our political views,” Chapman told the station. “Using a wild animal for that is cruel and inhuman. It’s not OK.”
The group is offering the reward for information for the person or persons who put the sticker on the “beautiful bear who has already been trapped, tranquilized, and collared unnecessarily,” a post states.
Bears are NOT Billboards! Second black bear in Asheville,NC confirmed with political sticker on tracking collar....
Posted by Help Asheville Bears-HAB on Friday, July 31, 2020
This isn’t the first time a Trump 2020 sticker has been placed on wildlife; in September 2019 a similar sticker was spotted on a black bear as it approached someone’s deck, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.
In that photo, the sticker is positioned in a different angle.
“Bears are NOT Billboards,” the post from Help Asheville Bears states.
“This is now the second bear this happened to, which can only mean either someone in the study is doing this or it is someone in the public,” a post by Help Asheville Bears states. “Either way, a full investigation needs to be done.”