Butch the Koolau Bear
Date: 3 Dec 1997 16:35:14 GMT From: Norman Roberts <nroberts@hawaii.edu> Subject: Butch, the Koolau Bear While on the Ka'a'wa Valley Hike last August, there came a point at which the grazing cattle turned as one and stared menacingly at us as we passed nearby. One of the hikers expressed relief that there were no large, wild animals in Hawaii. What old timer could resist a straight line like that! "But there have been," I said. "There used to be a black bear that roamed both sides of the Koolaus from Maunawili to Pupukea and back to Moanalua." My statement was greeted with expressions of polite, sheer, and stark disbelief. "Isn't that just a legend?" I was asked. "It probably is now," I replied. "Is he still around?" asked another hiker. "Probably not. Bears live 20 to 25 years, and he was last seen in 1970." "Did they ever find his body?" asked a particularly skeptical hiker. "No,...