BC Wildlife Park's 37 year-old grizzly bear, Shardik, emerged from his winter den earlier this month. Years of suffering from arthritis had finally taken the ultimate toll as three days later it was obvious that he wasn't able to get up. Shardik was euthanized, as was his sister, Sheba, two years ago. It's been very hard for the community.
Bear conflicts are no longer a problem in the northern Rockies region only. Last week, 300 bear managers met in Missoula, Montana for the fourth International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop. Bears are expanding their range, which brings about the question of how many bears will residents be able to tolerate. Longtime residents have shown adaptability, however the arrival of inexperienced newcomers and transients as bear habitat expands, brings about the need for constant re-education on the risks and best behaviour.
Each year there is a different amount of bear cubs waking up, depending on natural food sources and other factors. However, in BC another group of rehabbers are waiting to find out what their bear season will be like. A five-year pilot project about grizzly bear rehabilitation and tracking has been spearheaded. The information being gathered is helping to prove that despite the fact that cubs were raised by rehabbers, they are adapting to the wild and avoiding dangerous encounters with people.
Yellowstone National Park rangers are preparing for the upcoming tourist season by updating bear-warning signs and stepping up grizzly-awareness education. As populations of grizzlies and black bears have increased and human have encroached on their habitat, these are the steps that Yellowstone officials are taking to avoid confrontations. And encounters are no longer in wild places anymore, wildlife managers must try to minimize the conflicts by educating people about how to live with bears.
Mar 14, 2012 — Media Coverage: Bear Arms?
It remains unclear that rifles and other firearms are best for chasing off bears in the Alaskan wilderness. A new survey of bear attacks shows that avoiding bad situations may be a better way to stay unscathed rather than toting firearms. Research has been done on deterrence, by recording every incident between the three Alaskan bear species and humans carrying guns. It was discovered that humans survived encounters with the animals unscathed at nearly the same rate regardless of whether they were packing weapons - around 80% of the time.
A wild brown bear has been photographed using a barnacle-covered rock to exfoliate in the first recorded act of tool use by the species. The observation was made in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska by the University of Cumbria's Dr. Volker Deecke. He says that this means brown bears could be more advance than previously thought. This discovery is an exciting prospect for researchers and could provide the basis for further research.
Sir Richard Branson made an announcement this week that legislation protecting Canada's polar bears will soon be brought to Ontario's legislature. I twill be introduced as a private member's bill this spring, and is being pushed by the international wildlife conservation organization WildAid. The Polar Bear Protection Act would seek to manage the captured polar bear population better and allow for more research and positive intervention, such as providing supplementary feeding.
The Bear Awareness Society is working towards making Prince George a Bear Smart Community, in an effort to reduce the bear-human conflicts which most often lead to the death of a bear. Last year the City Council approved a report that promised the City would enact new bylaws and work with Bear Awareness.
Residents who leave garbage and other bear attractants out could soon be facing a $345 fine. The Hope Mountain Black Bear Committee is working with the Conservation Officer Service to raise awareness about the issue in an effort to reduce human-bear conflicts.
Grizzly bears will be fitted with GPS collars and tracked as part of a plan to reduce the number of bears killed on railway tracks in Banff and Yoho national parks. Parks Canada plans to capture 10 to 12 grizzlies to monitor their movements and examine how they use the Bow Valley area for the next four years. Canadian Pacific trains kill one to two grizzlies each year, on average. Researchers hope the information leads to solutions to prevent bears dying on the tracks, but will also help Parks Canada with other ecological restoration efforts.
Luckily, investigative reporter Darcy Henton broke the story that 145 black bears had been shot by government wildlife officers in the oilsands region last year. A review of the rules and regulations governing garbage management at oilsands camps has been ordered. What's troubling is that the Ministry of Sustainable Resources has know about this since September 2011 and not one company or individual was charged with improper storage of food or other attractants. The regulations should have nothing to do with threats to human safety and everything to do with preventing the deaths of innocent bears.
Alaska is being taken over by game managers who love killing animals way too much and can't seem to control themselves. Bear snaring is just the latest in a long string of wildlife violations by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and it is barely being debated. The idea of living off the land is dead. Alaska is managing wildlife based on myths and fantasies. Alaskans are living like the lower-48, and are losing touch with the land. Alaska is dying a horrible death with its foot caught in a snare.
Alberta's Sustainable Resource Development minister has ordered a review of garbage management practices in the Fort McMurray region after news that 145 bears were shot by Fish and Wildlife officers last year. The number of black bear shot in the district was almost three times the count of the previous year and the highest in recent history. It was a low year for the berry crops which sent the bears searching for other food sources.
A one-year-old female black bear was found beside a road in Whiteshell Provincial Park. The provincial park and Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship were called immediately but told that it should be put down. Then it was taken to a chicken coop, but luckily Manitoba Conservation did retrieve it and found it a home at the new International Polar Bear Conservation Centre.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has increased its Karelian Bear Dog force by fifty percent. This is in hopes to re-instill fear of human neighbourhoods. This specialized breed which was used in Finland and Russia in bear hunting can re-educate unwelcome black bears.
A Kootenay biologist says he was outraged to hear about the two bear cubs that were euthanized on government orders Monday. Heavy logging equipment destroyed their den which scared off their mother. A logger's wife brought them to Kamloops Wildlife Park, however it was decided to put the cubs down. The biologist believes that the province is negligent for not drafting adequate guidelines to protect bear winter habitat.
In Merritt on Monday there was an incident when a bear den was destroyed by logging equipment. The mother was scared off which left two four-week old cubs that rolled out into the snow. They were taken to BC Wildlife Centre with the hope to have a second chance. However, it was the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations that made the decision to euthanize them.
Outrage against the practice of bear bile extraction seems to be growing in China. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese have attacked the pharmaceutical company Guizhentang with online complaints over the firm's plan to triple the size of its bear-bile farms. They currently farm approximately 400 bears. Animals Asia Foundation estimates that about 20,000 bears are kept at 100 bile farms in China.
In the U.S. the national parks are no longer the only places that humans are running into black bears. Numbers from the Eastern seaboard to California have shot up in recent decades. Now wildlife officials are starting to base hunting policies on how the public feels about the animal. Controversy has come to states that are expanding hunting of black bears.The method of bear hunting is what is opposed. But the question is, how much will citizens put up with.
A Chinese pharmaceutical company - Guizhentang - invited the public to visit its bear-bile farms to clear up concerns about maltreatment. This company which extracts bear bile to make traditional Chinese medicines, had been planning a stock market listing. This attempt to get listed has aroused much controversy. The plan was strongly opposed by animal protection organizations and many individuals who accused it of using cruelty to extract bile from bears. More than 80 public figures have signed a petition opposing the application to expand the farm.
