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All Attractants Articles
A black bear captured on top of a garbage truck in downtown Vancouver was released back into the wild on Tuesday.
Conservation authorities have successfully captured a black bear that had been standing on top of a garbage truck in downtown Vancouver.
HOMEOWNERS who leave out garbage and other bear attractants could soon face fines from conservation officers thanks to a new amendment to the B.C. Wildlife Act. The amendment, passed Nov. 24, makes it illegal for a person to have anything that could attract dangerous wildlife to their property, mostly garbage, fruit or similar material. Mike Badry, a biologist with the Ministry of Environment, said the new rules will be used mostly on repeat offenders after there's been a problem with an animal.
Dear Editor,
RE: "No punchline to 'A bear walks into a pizza shop...,'" Question Editorial, Oct. 6.
I am the Bear Aware community coordinator for Whistler. I would like to commend Ms. Miller on her excellent editorial from Oct. 6.
The opinion piece highlights the severe consequences possible both to the bear and to the community as a result of the black bear wandering into Fat Tony's Pizza. Her editorial does a great job of describing the extreme level of habituation exhibited by the bear, and the lack of public education surrounding the incident.
Meanwhile bear calls continue to come in. On Oct.16 a black bear had to be euthanized after it was wounded by a vehicle near Function Junction.
The bear was found by a walker, and it made no attempt to stand up. The conservation officer service was called to dispatch the bear.
Three bear cubs are learning to live without their mother, who was shot by conservation officers after the foursome was found foraging for food in a Coquitlam schoolyard last week. The nine-month-old cubs are now adjusting to their temporary home at Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley.
As if Whistler's resident black bears didn't already have huge challenges ahead this fall, an international media circus last week only served to trivialize the animals' plight and fuel public ignorance.
Reporters from Vancouver, across Canada, into the U.S. and as far away as the U.K. delighted in the story of a bear wandering into Whistler's Fat Tony's Pizza and eating several pies while onlookers shot video and laughed at the scene.
After years of actively working towards making Whistler visitors and residents more bear smart, as well as taking steps to make the town more bear proof, this week Whistler was recognized by the provincial government as one of only four "Bear Smart" communities in B.C.
Joining Squamish and Kamloops, the first two communities accepted into the program in 2009, Whistler and Lions Bay received the designation from B.C.'s Minister of Environment Terry Lake on Thursday (Sept. 29).
CALGARY - Some of the world's foremost bear experts are looking at new ways to prevent grizzlies from getting killed along railway tracks inside Banff National Park.
A dozen bears have been killed and a half dozen cubs orphaned in the last decade and experts estimate there are now only between 45 and 60 grizzlies left in the park.
Last year, Alberta reclassified the species as threatened because of rapidly dwindling numbers.
Local black bear researchers are predicting a wave of increased bear activity in the Village and valley this fall due to the worst berry crop Whistler has seen in almost two decades.
Experts are pleading with locals to be extra careful by safely disposing of garbage, not having bird feeders, keeping dog food inside and keeping areas around the house clean.
Workers at a northern Alberta oil site are outraged after a wildlife officer shot and killed a mother black bear and her three cubs for entering their camp's living area.
They claim camp managers are negligent for allowing garbage and food to be stored outside and refusing to build a fence around the compound.
Recently, I was drawn to reflect upon the work that I have been doing with the Get Bear Smart Society. We have seen some tremendous improvements since the 1990s and I am so incredibly proud to be a part of the bear smart movement.
Most of our success can be contributed to education. When people know better, they do better. When people make the connection between their actions and an outcome, they can adjust their actions. It is a process; part of realizing our role in our community and also as part of the greater ecosystem and our natural environment. It is about taking responsibility.
PORT COQUITLAM - Port Coquitlam is now enforcing bear regulations in its solid waste bylaw on both the north and south sides of the city for the first time, according to a press release from the city.
Bear regulations have been enforced on the north side since they were introduced in 2009. Lately, however, an increasing number of bears have been spotted in south side neighbourhoods - especially near the Coquitlam River and Colony Farm.
B.C. conservation officers shot 17 bears in the Christina Lake area this summer, and they suspect many were the famous "pot bears" found at a marijuana grow-op last year.
Insp. Aaron Canuel says three times the number of bears were euthanized in the area this year, compared to past years. Most were shot because they had become a nuisance and were too comfortable with people, he said.
The one-time bear man of Alaska's capital city pleaded guilty to a single count of feeding game last week.
As his penalty for trying to make pets of about a dozen black bears, 65-year-old Arnold W. Hanger was ordered to pay the state $4,000 and perform 80 hours of community-service work for the Wildlife Division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. In addition, he will spend two years on probation.
You can tell a person where the fruit is but you can't make them pick. The one's who always seem to be around and picking at this time of year are the ones with the heavy black coats - that is, if we don't beat them to buffet.
Apples, pears, plums, apricots... pretty much the same stuff we grow and consume, are bear magnets and it's no surprise the omnivores would enjoy the fruits as much as we do.
Secure attractants. It's a concept as simple as wearing your seatbelt, and yet for some campers in the bear-heavy areas around Whistler, it's not considered until after a bear has rifled through their campsite or vehicle.
But for those in the Cal-Cheak area, there's only so much campers can do without bear-resistant food storage bins.
WHITEFISH - More grizzly bears are keying in on unprotected chicken coops in western Montana, with increasingly deadly consequences - both for the bears and the pilfered poultry.
The rise in bear-related chicken raids is ruffling the feathers of state and federal wildlife managers who are forced to move or kill bears that receive a food reward, be it from a trash can, a fruit orchard or a bird pen. The conflicts are entirely avoidable, managers say, but it's the responsibility of landowners to buck the disturbing trend.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Nothing evokes the passion of a certain sect of Lake Tahoe residents quite like the issue of black bear management. Nevada's re cent legalization of the state's first bear hunt, coupled with the killing of a nuisance bruin in July that was captured in the Raley's parking lot, has inspired some residents to band together to formulate solutions.
While NoBearHuntNV.org is a formal organization created to oppose the bear hunt, the latest movement to center on bruin issues is more informal, consisting of a handful of local residents who are taking it upon themselves to photograph trash re ceptacles that are out of compliance with the Incline Village General Improvement District's trash ordinance.
Bears accessing recycling bins around Whistler Village this season is bringing concerns about bear-proof bins to the surface again.
"It can potentially be an issue," said conservation officer, Sgt. Chris Doyle, "and the more we can do to prevent to address human wildlife conflict the better, obviously - but an issue like this is a bigger problem (than can be addressed) in a short period of time."
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