11/09/2018
Very sad.
Bears are a nuisance.
This is a far-too-common refrain in Whistler. People don't say it outright, but the attitude is there, in people's actions and more importantly inactions. It's there every time a bear is killed, a mother this time.
This mother and her three cubs were feeding on mountain-ash berries in a residential area earlier this month. The Conservation Office Service (COS) tranquillized the mother, who fell from a tree to her death, leaving three tiny cubs to fend for themselves in an unfamiliar area.
The likelihood of those cubs' surviving is slim. The cubs weighed roughly 14 kilograms and have only a month or two to pack on the necessary weight for hibernation and to find a den, now with no mother to fend off attacks or help or guide them. We killed one bear and three more deaths will likely follow. We may never know for sure.
There are a number of questions the public should be asking, but let's start with the most important: Why were those landscaped trees there in the first place? And planted on Whistler Housing Authority land no less?
I commend the COS for reaching out to the municipality to help remove the attractant where the incident occurred. It's great that the municipality is stepping up. But, shouldn't more preventative measures be pursued now?
Shouldn't we have attractants like mountain ash removed in our community, prohibit further residential areas from planting it and mandate garden centres not sell it, so the situation doesn't repeat itself?
Another question to ask: why did a member of the public call the COS to begin with? Did they call to report a sighting or was it a nuisance complaint?
The mother and cubs posed no threat to public safety. They were merely doing what bears do. Feeding in preparation for hibernation. Feeding not on garbage, or left-out recycling, or grease drippings from a restaurant bin. No, these four bears fed on what grows naturally in their habitat: mountain ash.
The residents should have notified their property manager that the mountain-ash trees needed to be replaced with a variety that doesn't invite bears into their neighbourhood. That would have been the right thing to do. And quite some time ago, as this has been an ongoing situation.
If a bear enters a property, from a safe distance, yell and shout at the bear to go away. Bang pots and pans. Snap and shake a large garbage bag. Give bears an experience that says, "Hey, you are not welcome here." And when the bear leaves, remove the attractant.
Or, if appropriate, call your landlord, property manager or municipality to do so.
Communicate to your neighbours about the furry visitor. Remind friends to be extra vigilant during this time of hyperphagia—a time when bears need to eat continuously to survive the winter.
Don't leave food or garbage in your vehicle. Take down bird feeders. Clean barbecues, especially the grease pan. One person can make all the difference in the world. One action, one conversation, one letter.
The COS could have done more, too. Several poor decisions were made: 1) the family of bears should have been left alone as they were not in serious conflict—this is the best decision; 2) an order should have been written to remove the mountain-ash berries—this is the best preventative action; 3) the CO should have been equipped with a catch net to minimize harm during the tranquilizing process; 4) the cubs, once orphaned, should have been taken to Critter Care where they are safe and could fatten up and be released back to the wild in the spring.
Catch nets have been on the market for years. Why did it take so long for the COS to order one? Get Bear Smart, along with other Whistler Bear Advisory Committee members, suggested a net many years ago. A net was on the way, according to the COS. This means that the COS understood the importance of this net. Why delay?
Their answer is in their mandate. The No. 1 priority of the COS is to act in the best interest of public safety. Bears' lives come second.
We need to take time in our busy lives, filled with other equally demanding priorities, to collectively work towards coexistence. Each player has a necessary role—the COS, the municipality, the public and animal advocacy groups.
This past week, The Fur-Bearers launched an official complaint and campaign against the COS on how the mother and three cubs were dealt with.
Show your support. Get involved. Contact the municipality. Write your local paper or even The Province, the National Post, the Globe and Mail or Georgia Straight. Write the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy or the Chief CO. Let these organizations and people in power know what you think. Speak up. And if you don't want to complain, do something positive.
Volunteer with the Whistler chapter of the Get Bear Smart Society (contact: [email protected]).
Currently, three amazing volunteers—Marcelo Bacchi Ambrosano, Ivana Minic-Lukac and Mel Dutkiewicz—are making local bears' lives better one bike ride at a time as part of the inaugural Biking for Bears Ambassador Program.
Every time they request a dog be leashed, every time they educate people with cameras to keep a safe distance, the likelihood of coexistence between humans and bears becomes that much more possible.
This program came about from one phone call, when the Get Bear Smart Society was approached by a member of the public to help mitigate an area frequented by bears and hence curious people.
The person who called didn't complain about the bears. This person took issue with the public. The bears weren't a nuisance. The public was. And because of that attitude, people were able to step in and help better the situation. Three people. Could you imagine what three more people could do?
Whistler needs to change its attitude. Bears are not a nuisance. Bears are our opportunity to rediscover our humanity and relationship with nature.
Sylvia Dolson,
Executive Director, Get Bear Smart Society, Whistler
Letter to Editor, Pique Newsmagazine, Nov. 8, 2018
