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Government disbands grizzly protection team
Experts worry population will dwindle without aid
Darcy Henton, Edmonton Journal, June 19, 2008

The Alberta government has dissolved a team of experts that was assembled to help ensure the survival of the grizzly bear -- surprising team members and frustrating conservationists.

Biologist Robert Barclay, the team's spokesman, said Wednesday a dismissal letter sent last week to the 15 team members from Ken Ambrock, deputy minister of sustainable resource development, was unexpected.

"The statement that our recovery team's work is complete was a surprise to me," said Barclay, a professor at the University of Calgary.

The team was appointed in 2002, after a provincial endangered species committee recommended the grizzlies be declared a threatened species.

Barclay said the comprehensive plan that was accepted by Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton last October suggested the team would be responsible for updating the plan and monitoring the recovery of the dwindling grizzly bear population.

He said he's written to Ambrock to request a clarification of the letter and its suggestion the province still wants to solicit advice from team members on an annual basis for the next few years.

Jim Pissot of Defenders of Wildlife Canada said he fears the plan to restore the grizzly population will flounder without the team of experts to champion it. But Pissot said the province has given the team the short shrift all along.

"I think the province has all but ignored and mistreated them in the past," he said.

"With this dismissal, Alberta citizens no longer have any direct participation in grizzly bear recovery."

Pissot said the provincial government has suspended the annual spring grizzly bear hunt, but has done little else.

One of the key recommendations of the grizzly bear recovery plan is to limit access to critical grizzly habitat because most bear deaths are a result of contact with humans.

But to date, no core bear habitat areas have been closed and no resource roads have been reclaimed, Pissot said.

Sustainable Resource Development spokesman Dave Ealey said the team was dissolved because it finished its job.

"The plan has been approved," he noted. "It's been posted. It's been part of our . . . work on bear conservation."

No decision on whether to permanently ban the grizzly hunt or declare bears a threatened or endangered species will be made until a grizzly census is completed, he said.

Grizzly killed by motorcycle on 93 south
AMANDA FOLLETT, Rocky Mountain Outlook, June 19, 2008

A motorcyclist travelling on the Highway 93 South Tuesday evening (June 17) is lucky to be alive after colliding with a 230-pound male grizzly bear, marking the first human-caused grizzly bear mortality in the Rocky Mountain National Parks this season.

The 49-year-old Regina man was travelling north about 45 kilometres from Castle Mountain Junction at 8:40 p.m. when the grizzly unexpectedly crossed the highway, according to RCMP. The driver was taken to Banff Mineral Springs hospital with a broken arm and lacerations, and the bear was killed on impact, according to a Parks Canada news release.

"The gentleman was driving his Harley Davidson motorcycle toward Alberta when a grizzly ran out in front of him and he couldn't avoid it," Columbia Valley RCMP staff sergeant Doug Pack said, adding it was a "nice clear bright evening" and roads were in good condition. Speed is also not believed to be a factor, he said.

Pack couldn't comment on whether the man was thrown from the vehicle, but said, "I can only imagine if you hit a bear that size they're going to bring you up solid pretty quick."

Defenders of Wildlife Canada executive director Jim Pissot described the unfenced section of highway between Castle Junction and Radium as a "speedway" that coincides with prime bear habitat.

"Following the (2003 forest) fires there's just going to be more and more bear activity in that area and it doesn't appear Parks Canada is getting out in front of that," said Pissot, who described wide, clear swaths of land on either side of the highway as beneficial for wildlife visibility, but also prime foraging areas that attract bears.

It's a stretch of road that Bow Valley Naturalists president Mike McIvor has been pushing Parks Canada to consider in its upcoming 10-year mountain parks management plan.

"We've been trying to encourage Parks Canada to pay more attention to that highway, not only the current level of highway mortality, but future levels," he said, noting considerably increased traffic through the corridor due to development in the Columbia Valley and commuters from the Calgary area.

As post-fire vegetation continues to proliferate throughout the valley, McIvor fears the area could become a "sink" for grizzly bears. While recognizing fencing the entire stretch of highway would be cost prohibitive, he said he would like to see Parks reduce speed limits and fence key areas known for frequent wildlife crossings.

"I think the biggest thing is if you drive that highway at 90 km/h you will be the slowest vehicle on the road by far," McIvor said. you hit a bear that size they're going to bring you up solid pretty quick."

Defenders of Wildlife Canada executive director Jim Pissot described the unfenced section of highway between Castle Junction and Radium as a "speedway" that coincides with prime bear habitat.

It's a stretch of road that Bow Valley Naturalists president Mike McIvor has been pushing Parks Canada to consider in its upcoming 10-year mountain parks

management plan.

"I think the biggest thing is if you drive that highway at 90 km/h you will be the slowest vehicle on the road by far," McIvor said.

Stranded in city: A female bear, which had become separated from her cubs, runs through the front yard of a home on 20th Street NE. Police and conservation officers were called to control the situation.
James Murray/Observer

Bears acquiring taste for trash
Salmon Arm Observer, June 17, 2008

Bears: Conservation officer warns residents to keep all garbage tightly secured.

A bear and two cubs were seen in several locations in Salmon Arm on June 16.

After several calls from residents about their whereabouts, police finally tracked the animals down at about 3 p.m. on 20th Street NE.

Conservation officer Josh Lockwood says that the bears were sighted between 15th and 24th streets, between Okanagan and 23rd Street NE and were finally located in a private back yard.

Police issued warnings to staff at Bastion Elementary School and the Sullivan campus of Salmon Arm Secondary because reports were received of bears near Willow Cove, a subdivision behind Bastion.

Lockwood, an officer with the North Okanagan Zone field office, says because the bears were finally found in a populated area, it was not safe to dispose of them, and they were allowed to wander back into a rural green area.

According to Lockwood, the two-year-old cubs had been introduced to the easiest source of food, garbage, by their mother, before she released them on their own.

“These bears that we are dealing with right now have become habituated to garbage,” says Lockwood, who explains that the incident centred around nuisance bears rummaging for garbage in areas where urban and rural land meet, rather than a predatory problem.

He stresses that these nuisance bears still pose a large public safety issue, and there is no cure for a bear raised on the easy accessibility of garbage.

“Contain your garbage, preferably in a locked garage or in an area where bears can't get to it,” says Lockwood, adding that unsecured garbage is the only lure for bears at this time of year, as fruit has not yet begun to ripen.

Bears have also been getting into commercial garbage bins at the top of Tank Hill.

Sightings of bears can be reported to the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-925-7277.

Resident Jeanne Pollard also issues a warning.

Walkers and hikers using the Little Mountain trail, that begins at the end of Okanagan Avenue, should be wary of bears, she says.

Pollard regularly sees two bears, one brown and one black, on her property near the Okanagan Avenue turn-around and is most concerned for those who can't defend themselves, namely families with young children and senior residents.

"I think people should be warned that they're not afraid to come near people," says Pollard.

She has seen the bears in the area yearly, but with incidents of them coming up to her door, pushing on glass windows and damaging outdoor furniture, she notes that they appear to be less timid than in previous years.

Wildlife encounters up
Cougars and bears are in our midst, and some cause damage in search of food
Julia Caranci, AV Times, June 19, 2008

Two more bears were destroyed in Port Alberni last week, and conservation officers are putting out a strong call for residents to keep attractants in check.

There are some big kitties and pesky bruins in the area right now, and reports suggest they are getting bolder than ever in their search for food.

Jesse Jones, Port Alberni-based conservation officer, said last week, two healthy adult bears were destroyed after too many encounters with humans: one that had been frequenting Boot Lagoon Hatchery at Great Central Lake and one at Sproat Lake.

Despite the fact staff at the hatchery had been making every effort to discourage bruins, the first bear entered the hatchery and was caught eating salmon feed.

"He was a spoiled bear and very determined," Jones said, adding since that adult bear was destroyed, hatchery staff have ramped up measures even more, and are installing improved electric fencing.

The second bear was frequenting a trailer park at Sproat Lake -- conservation officers set a trap and captured it. The bear, another healthy male, had to be destroyed.

This brings the total number of bears destroyed in recent weeks to four -- three were healthy animals destroyed because of interactions with humans, one sow was destroyed after being struck by a car.

Jones said his main concern now is motivating residents to take more responsibility for managing their garbage, pet and bird food, and fruit trees.

"These bears are being motivated by hunger, not malice," he explained, adding responding to these complaints often necessitates the destruction of healthy animals and takes up time and resources that could be better spent.

BearAware advocate Crystal McMillan told the Times incidence reports and bear sightings in Port Alberni are most definitely on the rise.

Bears (in some cases, it is the same bear spotted in the same area multiple times) have been spotted on Lakeshore Road at Sproat Lake, getting into garbage and in one case, getting into a resident's chicken coop.

There is also a bear in the Kendall Street area of the city.

A bear's also been getting into garbage in the Southgate area.

On Lothian Road, a bear climbed into a coop, ate four hens, then took off. Bears have also been spotted in the community of Beaver Creek.

McMillan expressed some concern at the boldness some of the animals are displaying in their quest for food. One report notes a bear ripped a metal door off a shed to get at the garbage stored behind it.

Bears have also reportedly gone into residences in search of food, using open windows and sliding doors.

What BearAware workers suggest is that residents do more to control their attractants, particularly garbage, to prevents incidents like these.

McMillan points out garbage should be kept in a contained area like a locked garage or inside the house, as many enclosures can be accessed by hungry bears. She also recommends electrified fencing for farms with livestock.

Cougars have been spotted, both in Port Alberni and the West Coast.

As reported in the Westerly News this week, conservation officers tranquilized and relocated a young cougar just last week -- the big cat had made himself quite comfortable in Ucluelet, not far from the town core.

Tracking dogs were brought in to help locate the big cat Sunday morning, after a Ucluelet resident called to report seeing the cougar in her front yard.

Officers say the young male had become quite comfortable around people.

The cougar was treed and tranquilized, then relocated to an area about 100 kilometres away from the community.

Second polar bear swims from Greenland to Iceland, is shot
Article from: AAP, June 18, 2008

A SECOND polar bear that swam hundreds of kilometres from Greenland to Iceland has been shot by police, the second in as many weeks.

The bear was killed when it charged a group of journalists, Duetsche Press-Agentur reported.

Authorities yesterday became aware of the bear's arrival after it was spotted by a 12-year-old girl on a farm near the town of Saudarkrokur, on the Skaga fjord.

A police spokesman said they planned to capture the bear and ship it in a cage back to Greenland, or give it to a zoo, following widespread protests after the first bear was killed by police marksmen.

Police said they had "no other choice" but to kill the bear after it charged a group of reporters "in a panic".

It is the first time polar bears, which are not native to Iceland, have been spotted in the country for 20 years.

Polar bear swims 300km, is shot
Article from: News.com.au, June 05, 2008

GRAPHIC footage of the first polar bear seen in Iceland in 20 years being shot dead by police has been posted on the internet.

The bear, an adult male weighing around 250kg, was presumed to have swum some 300km from Greenland or from a distant chunk of Arctic ice to Skagafjordur in northern Iceland.

It was planned to sedate the animal and move it back to Greenland but the police decided it was safest to kill the bear immediately.

"There was fog up in the hills and we took the decision to kill the bear before it could disappear into the fog”, said police spokesman Petur Bjornsson.

Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir gave the green light for police to shoot the bear because the correct tranquilliser was not available in Iceland and would not be flown in for a day, Icelandic news channel Visir.is reported.

However, a veterinarian said he had the drugs available in his car. He also criticised police for not closing a mountain road where people congregated after hearing news of the bear, the Associated Press reported.

Polar bears were recently listed as a threated species by the US because its Arctic sea ice habitat is melting due to climate change.

US government scientists have predicted that two-thirds of the polar bear population of 25,000 could disappear by 2050.