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Tragically, bears are lose their lives due to conflict with humans every day. This is an opportunity to share the loss of a neighbourhood bear. This page is dedicated to the Zeidler Family of Whistler who sadly paid the price for all those who came before them who had trained the bear to seek human food sources in residential neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, the Zeidlers had no attractants on their property and their home was securely locked when a bear decided to enter their home by forcing a door open. Here's their story:
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Barley 2004-2007 Whistler,
BC
Early in the morning of May 4, a bear
broke into a residence in Bayshores. He wandered through
the house and to the kitchen - where he found and ate chocolate,
milk and a box of cookies left on the table. He awakened
the family who managed to open doors to allow him to escape.
Barley was caught in a trap at the home in the early evening
of May 4 and destroyed May 5 2007.
Barley was born sometime in January 2004.
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He had an unfortunate history of conflict with humans that was
short but intense.
He was first trapped at the Brew Pub in fall 2006 (hence the name
"Barley") and was collared and tagged. Following this, he was
observed breaking into garbage sheds and cars. Several cars had
particularly large "rewards" which encouraged him further. Barley
was relocated to the Callaghan and returned. He apparently didn't
get much sleep this winter as he continued to seek and find non-natural
food rewards. He sometimes enjoyed sleeping in a crabapple tree
in the Benchlands.
PLEASE REMEMBER WE
SHARE THIS VALLEY WITH BLACK BEARS. KEEP YOUR GARBAGE SECURE AND
TELL YOUR NEIGHBOURS AND THOSE NEW TO TOWN TO DO THE SAME. REMOVE
ALL OTHER ATTRACTANTS FROM YOUR PROPERTY.
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Slip 2003-2007 Whistler, BC
In May of 2007, our dear friend Slip was shot by a hunter
in the Soo Valley. Slip was such a likeable character, who
was very tolerant of people. We will all miss him. Slip
is survived by his mother Marissa whose home range is on
the west face of Blackcomb Mountain, as well as siblings
from other litters. He was last seen by our team on Blackcomb
playing with Hoz and Nester.
Slip was one of our research bears.
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He was certainly aptly
named, as he had slipped his radio collar 3 times since it was
first put on in 2005. He had even managed to get ride of one of
his ear tags.
Slip spent his first
year with his mother staying out of trouble on Blackcomb. As he
got older, he began expanding his home range like any male bear
does. Slip belonged to a gang of bears we've named the Fitz Creek
gang. A group of 5 bears, girls and guys, none of which are related,
but all of which are about the same age.
There was a time when
Slip actively pursued garbage and other attractants in the Village,
even learning how to access teh bear-proof pedestrian waste bins.
Recently, however, he seemed to be turning his life around and
hadn't been in much trouble at all. He had received intensive
aversive conditioning and a great deal of hazing.
You gave us many laughs
and much joy over the years. Thanks for sharing your short life
with us.
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Andy 2004 -2007 Whsitler, BC
A sad end for one so young. Yesterday afternoon we had
a sad reminder in our backyard of the fact that bear season
is upon us. A starving black bear was shot to death, sadly
in front of my 11-year-old daughter. This three-year-old
bear, Andy, had been introduced to the idea that people
will leave garbage in their vehicles and homes for him to
raid. It was a three-day frenzy of home invasions and breaking
into cars. Very sad for a bear his age to become so quickly
skilled at locating and eating garbage.
He was being tracked by conservation officers, RCMP and
the bear researchers when in our yard, we watched in horror
from our basement window as it all came to an end. The young
Constable that reluctantly shot the bear was frustrated
that people's carelessness with garbage resulted in this
bear's death. Both of the Constables present were considerate
of our feelings and quickly arranged and assisted in the
removal of the bear. Thank you Constables Roberts and Harris.
The bear researchers, Nicola and Mary, kindly came into
our home to explain to my upset daughter why Andy had to
be killed.
Please, please residents of Whistler, report any garbage
being left out or "bear baiting" type of behaviour
to: 604-905-BEAR. I promised my daughter that I would take
every opportunity to inform new residents to Whistler about
being bear aware and vigilant about disposing of garbage
properly. I trust that the rest of us that remember last
year nine bears had to be killed, will do all that we can
to help reduce this number.
Thank you once again to Nicola and Mary for giving my daughter
comfort and for their tireless pursuits in educating us
on co-existing with black bears. Ironically, I spotted another
bear barreling through our backyard last night. I hope that
that bear was not hot on the trail of some new source of
garbage…
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Yearling 2006 - 2007 Whistler, BC
The headlines read "Third bear
falls victim to garbage addiction". The yearling had
to be euthanized after being hit by a car as it ran across
the highway between a garbage collection site and the waste
transfer station. A few days prior to the bear being hit,
it was feeding at the Function Junction compactor site.
It was immobilized and tagged
and released a short distance away. Unfortunately, he returned
to the site for some easy pickin's.
The bears around Function Junction have been developing
some troubling habits - getting into the recycling bins
or pulling material out, ransacking the recycling at the
garbage transfer station at the old landfill site, and even
getting onto the loaded garbage trucks and tearing at the
tarps covering the garbage.
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Juniper January
2004 – July 2007 &
Beari January 2007 – July 2007, Whistler, BC
Juniper, daughter
of Jeanie and resident of Whistler Mountain, was shot Thursday
July 12th after entering a home in Whistler Cay Heights.
Her 10 pound, 7 month old cub-of-the-year, Beari, was shot
as well. Juniper had a short conflict history which included
frequenting the Whistler Golf Course; there she learned
that people often store snacks in their golf bags and quickly
escalated to entering garages for garbage and then homes.
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| At three years old, Juniper was the
youngest mother in this area. Before getting into conflict,
she was sighted very regularly at the base of the Bike Park.
Attempts were being made to capture Juniper and radio-collar
her for an aversive conditioning program, but the research
team was unable to trap her. Juniper’s brother Jay was
found dead in January of 2006 on the shore of Lillooet Lake
after being relocated to Joffre Lakes in the fall of 2005.
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Millie January 1987? – July 2007, Whistler, BC
Millie was shot on July 11th in Function Junction. She
was an old female with very worn teeth and no incisors left.
She was estimated to be in her 20’s. She became known
to the Research Team only two weeks ago when she began entering
businesses and breaking into vehicles in the Function Junction
area. She was eartagged, but not collared. Millie was named
after the Miller Creek Café where she followed her
nose in through the open back door.
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