Black bears are bouncing back in Mexico after being hunted to
near-extinction 40 years ago. And after two years of drought,
forest fires and hot weather are causing larger numbers to
wander into populated areas, where they face traditions of
brutal bear capture and baiting left over from the old days. The
3 1/2-year-old female bear caught this week on the outskirts of
Zaragoza, a city in the northern border state of Coahuila, about
30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas, is
recovering from mouth and paw wounds suffered after being caught
by local people and turned over to volunteer firefighters and
civil defense workers. It was the emergency workers who decided
to "celebrate" the catch with a photo that someone later
distributed on social media sites showing the helpless, bloody-
mouthed bear being spread-eagled by ropes tied to each of its
paws. One man was pulling its ears. "This is outrageous,"
Environment Secretary Juan Elvira Quesada said. "We are going to
go after these people with all t