The Bear Connoisseur

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Quote

‘People were rooting for her’: B.C. community outraged bear killed with no ‘oversight’

By Amy Judd & Paul Johnson  Global News

Posted January 27, 2024 2:50 pm

 Updated January 27, 2024 7:13 pm

 

This is the story of how a little bear named Hans became a symbol of survival and strength in a small B.C. community, and how her death has many calling for change and more oversight.

 

It began in September 2022.

 

Bears are a common sight in Nelson, B.C., a city nestled in the West Kootenay region.

 

However, the community has been grappling with a high number of bears being euthanized by the Conservation Officer Service (COS) due to attractants from people and garbage.

 

Katie Graves, the co-director and co-founder of The Ursa Project Society in Nelson, said they started the society in 2022 after 17 bears were killed within the city limits. They were all black bears and were becoming food-conditioned, Graves said. She said no one has ever been attacked by a bear in Nelson.

 

“And then one day on Sept. 9, 2022, a mother with two cubs, the mom and one of the cubs was shot by the CO and we said, this can’t keep happening.

 

“We looked to see who was doing anything about it, and there was no one doing anything about it. So we said, what if we did?”

 

It turns out the mom and cub that were shot was Hans’ mother and sibling. Despite being given the name Hans by residents, it was later determined Hans was a girl.

 

The family had been attracted to some garbage left in a carport and Graves said the officer came and shot the mom and one of the cubs.

 

Hans managed to escape up a tree.

 

“So for several nights, she was up in the top of that tree, wailing all through the night,” Graves said.

 

“And the neighbours reported hearing this, and the sound is absolutely heartbreaking. After that, the CO said, ‘Well, nature will take its course’. We said she needs to be rescued and relocated to Northern Lights Bear Sanctuary up in Smithers.”

 

Graves said Hans was only about nine months old at that time and small.

 

But she said the Conservation Service told them a relocation would not be possible because Nelson is considered a ‘no-go’ zone, which means cubs from the area cannot be rehabilitated because residents do not manage their attractants.

 

Residents were unsure if Hans would make it through the winter but she started to be seen around the city limits last spring and summer.

 

“She became quite the little celebrity,” Graves said. “She had a sort of mohawk and people would photograph and video him.”

 

Once it was established it was the same bear, residents realized Hans had survived two winters on her own, despite not denning.

 

“She was a very sweet, very timid bear,” Graves said.

 

The residents knew Hans seemed skinny but said she never seemed to pose a threat to anyone.

 

“People were rooting for her,” Graves said. “She was a survivor and (we were) hoping she would go den.”

 

Hans the bear can be seen in the City of Nelson. Submitted to Global News

 

 

Just after Christmas, the Conservation Officer Service was called after someone said she was in their backyard.

 

Graves said officers showed up and tranquilized Hans but upon closer examination and a call to a biologist in Cranbrook, the decision was made to euthanize the bear.

 

“So the biologist said yes, (the CO) could go ahead and put her down and in doing so, that means asking the resident to carry her tranquilized body and in the back of the pick-up truck and be driven up into the bush where they dumped her mother and sibling and shoot her in the head.”

 

In a statement to Global News, the COS said it received multiple reports about Hans who was not in conflict or presenting a risk to public safety but who was in poor health.

 

“In consultation with wildlife biologists with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, the bear was safely sedated and assessed,” the ministry said.

 

“Due to its poor body condition, including missing fur, the 2-year-old bear was put down as the humane option, with the direction and guidance of WLRS biologists.”

 

The ministry said it appreciates people are so passionate about bears and wildlife.

 

Graves said she does not have an issue with the conservation officer, but there needs to be more accountability and more oversight for the organization overall.

 

“She was such a survivor and I’m fully for euthanasia when an animal is suffering… it’s not that we’re against killing all animals against all reasons and all decisions but it needs to be done through the lens of a veterinarian.”

 

Graves said residents are outraged about what happened to Hans and it has affected many in the community.

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/10253681/nelson-bc-bear-cub-killed-hans-outrage/

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Quote

Bears starting to wake up across B.C.

 

FILE - A bear in a North Vancouver driveway. (Mike Lloyd, CityNews)

   

By David Nadalini

Posted March 22, 2024 3:40 pm.

 

With spring officially underway, many bears across B.C. are waking up from hibernation and looking for sources of food.

 

According to Holly Reisner, the co-executive director of the North Shore Black Bear Society, many bears will be looking for grass to eat due to a lack of berries.

 

She says grass has lots of calcium and helps digestion, so people often see bruins on the side of highways.

 

“So it’s a good reminder for us all to be careful driving, especially on the North Shore,” Reisner said. “We have bears hit by cars every year, so it’s a good opportunity to think about that and slow down, watch out for wildlife.”

 

Reisner says it’s not unusual to see bears around Metro Vancouver. However, in order to avoid run-ins, she encourages people to use their voice.

 

“So what we like to tell you is, the best bear encounter you have is the one that you avoid … We really encourage you anytime you’re out walking in the trails or even on the street, is to use your voice. Bears recognize us as humans by the sound of our voice,” she explained, noting bears really don’t want to have encounters with humans.

 

She adds it’s a well-known myth that mother black bears are more aggressive, saying sows tend to send their cubs up a tree if there is danger.

 

Dog owners, meanwhile, are being reminded to keep them on a leash to help avoid encounters with bears while on walks.

 

“Dogs and bears are not a great combination,” said Reisner. “Dogs barking at a bear can be seen as a harassment to that bear, by the bear, and sometimes a barking or lunging dog can pressure a bear to take a defensive swipe.”

 

Meanwhile, she is reminding people across the region to do what they can to ensure they aren’t attracting bears to their homes.

 

That means thinking about the things around your house that may draw wild animals, such as garbage, organics, and bird feed.

 

“Wash your containers out with hot, soapy water before you put it in the blue bin. Keep anything odourous, like meat, fish, chicken scraps, or grease in the freezer.”

 

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/03/22/bc-bears-waking-reminders/

[4petesake]

Give this thread a bump.

This was taken last year on the Alaska Highway midway between Fort Nelson and Toad River.

 

 

 

 

[4petesake]

 

 

Mama in full protection mode.

 

 

[Cerridwen]

He's baaaack.....

First bear in the yard this Spring. Musta heard about our Canucks loss and popped by to console? (Or eat my Canucks flag?  )

 

 

Edited May 1 by Cerridwen

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Be safe out there!

 

Quote

Man airlifted to hospital after bear attack in B.C. Rockies: RCMP

B.C. man, 36, defended himself against grizzly with gun, was flown to Calgary in stable condition, police say

Moira Wyton · CBC News · Posted: May 17, 2024 9:27 AM PDT | Last Updated: 16 minutes ago

Search and rescue crews helped RCMP, wildlife officers, paramedics and firefighters with the complex rescue of a man who was attacked by a grizzly bear near Elkford, B.C. on Thursday, RCMP said. (Sparwood Search and Rescue/Facebook)

 

A British Columbia man was airlifted to a Calgary hospital Thursday after fending off a grizzly bear attack on a mountainside in the Rocky Mountains near the B.C.-Alberta border, according to RCMP.

 

Police said a father and son were tracking a bear west of Highway 43 south of Elkford, B.C., when the 36-year-old son was "attacked suddenly by an adult grizzly bear" around 3 p.m. PT.

 

"The man was able to defend himself with his firearm and the bear ran off," while his father called for help, Elk Valley RCMP said in a news release Friday morning.

 

The man, who police said lives in nearby Sparwood, B.C., suffered several injuries, including broken bones and cuts and scrapes on his body, the release said. 

 

 

Efforts to rescue the man by local fire crews, RCMP, paramedics, wildlife officers and search and rescue (SAR) crews were complex due to the steep terrain, the release said.

 

Sparwood and Elkford SAR members helped move the injured man 200 metres down the mountainside, where he was lifted into a hovering helicopter via a long line, police said.

 

The man was flown to a helipad in Elkford, where a STARS air ambulance then flew him to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, around 130 kilometres to the northwest, police said. Highway 43 was briefly closed as emergency services considered landing locations for the aircraft.

 

The release said the man was in stable condition when he left the scene. CBC News has contacted STARS for more information.

 

B.C. conservation officers who searched for the bear found it dead around 9 p.m., according to RCMP.

 

"Thank you to the many personnel, both volunteer and paid, who worked together to conduct a successful rescue," Sparwood Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post on Thursday evening. 

 

"And thanks to members of the public for yielding to the numerous emergency vehicles and giving us room to work safely."

 

...and maybe leave the bears be, instead of hunting them.  Or I guess FAFO.  

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/grizzly-bear-attack-elkford-bc-airlifted-hospital-1.7207498

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/05/17/People-Love-Watching-Grizzlies/

 

Copying and pasting the whole article (due to its formatting) is a real pain, so excerpts it is.

 

Excerpt 1:

Quote

Partnering with the Kitasoo Xai’xais Stewardship Authority, Short and her colleagues set up motion-sensing trail cameras across five square kilometres along the Khutze River to track bear activity from July to September 2020 — when tourism was banned — and again in 2021 after commercial bear-viewing reopened.

 

Compared with during the lockdown, Short found that the return of tourists caused grizzly bears to become warier. Bears sought out more sheltered, forested sites rather than spending time in exposed areas, such as open estuaries. The study also shows it could take weeks without bear-viewing to achieve the same level of bear activity along the river as was documented during 2020.

 

Excerpt 2:

Quote

Short also worked on the second study, looking at how tourists influence grizzly bears along the Atnarko River, which is also on the province’s central coast. Compared with the Khutze River, which is remote and sees comparatively fewer visitors even at peak times, the Atnarko River is accessible by a paved road and draws larger crowds, and the region continued to draw visitors in 2020.

 

While the two studies have common findings — confirming that bear activity declines as the number of visitors increases — the Atnarko River study shows one unexpected difference. At this site, Short says, the researchers saw female grizzlies with cubs seemingly using the presence of tourists as a shield to deter male grizzlies from preying on their cubs. As in the Khutze River, big males are less likely to hang around viewing sites, presenting an unexpected benefit to cubs, who might otherwise be killed by such males.