Grizzly’s death was preventable: WildWise Yukon
A grizzly bear that broke into a chicken coop in the Ibex Valley and accessed chicken and dog food has been put down by conservation officers.
A grizzly bear that broke into a chicken coop in the Ibex Valley and accessed chicken and dog food has been put down by conservation officers.
“It was deemed a serious threat to public safety,” Environment Yukon spokeswoman Melissa Madden said this morning.
This is a worst-case scenario, she said, calling the necessary dispatch “tragic.”
The large six-year-old bear quickly became a problem about two weeks ago, when it broke into the unelectrified coop and ate two bags of chicken feed.
It was travelling around people’s houses off the Old Alaska Highway at night, eating garbage and causing property damage.
Madden said it also accessed more than 100 pounds of dog food in a musher’s cache.
Conservation officers attempted to trap the bear several times, but it was too big.
“We’ve had a number of problems with unsecured chicken coops this summer,” she said. “People can prevent such an outcome by keeping bear attractants out of their yards.”
In a news release, WildWise Yukon said it tried to reach residents in the area to urge them to secure their attractants in bear-proof bins or behind electric fencing.
“In the Yukon, we all live in bear country – securing our attractants is the best way to prevent conflicts, property damage and the unnecessary eradication of bears,” said Carmen Smith, the organization’s program co-ordinator.
“It is our responsibility to do our part. Proper use of electric fencing or bear-proof storage options could have saved residents hundreds of dollars in damages, undue stress, and ultimately this bear’s life.”
Its death was preventable, she said.
Meanwhile, in the 10 Mile Road area off the North Klondike Highway, a grizzly shot by a resident earlier this month still hasn’t been located.
Conservation officers have been searching for the wounded bear on the ground and by air since a woman shot it in her yard nearly two weeks ago.
It had been on her property before, attracted to her chickens. She wasn’t able to scare it off with pots and pans, and it charged her. That’s when she fired.
Ryan Hennings, Environment Yukon’s manager of enforcement and compliance, said at the time conservation officers found a blood trail, but no sign of the bear.
They received one tip – a reported sighting last week – and conducted another search of the area.
It hasn’t been found, and no other sightings have been reported, Madden said today.
“Its location is unknown,” she said. “We continue to encourage residents to report any sightings.”
Environment Yukon’s TIPP line is 1-800-661-0525.
Comments (18)
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Don M. on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:07 pm
WildWise has this one nailed. Just to add a few tidbits if you're caught one fine evening with unsecured attractants (FOOD) and a hungry and determined grizzly bear and it's dark; they learn pretty quick that tethered, barking dogs are not a threat and/or can be easily killed, nor does shooting a high caliber rifle into the air scare them off. What finally did it for me that one dark night in a very remote cabin on the Pelly River was releasing all 4 of my dogs and the problem was solved in about 2 minutes. It was gone never to return. One dog won't do it, it's gotta be 2 or more as it's more difficult for the bear to focus on more than one and so they choose a strategic retreat. Anyhow this story is old "Do Not Feed the Bears' has been around forever and nobody, especially the urban types that move out of the city to get away from it all don't really get it. I think the authorities should ramp it up with well produced and slick public educaton program as well as initiating stiff fines for those that leave unsecured animal attractants. It's not too difficult to locate; just follow the birds, ie., ravens and magpies great low impact "animal attractant sensing devices."
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Yukoner Forever on Oct 6, 2014 at 10:18 pm
Yo Salar; I just checked in (late) and saw your comment. I actually felt bad after what I wrote and wish I had presented it better. We are all privileged to live in the Yukon and have the responsibility to steward this great environment.
I am a very politically aware person and a world traveller, and do appreciate what others on the planet are dealing with. All I meant was; every problem has a solution, and to dismiss the problem because there is a worse problem somewhere else is irresponsible. There will always be a worse problem somewhere else. The people in the Yukon who care about animal welfare and conservation are not self-centred. In fact, they are the opposite. I do encourage you to engage in discussion about how Yukoners can best respect the amazing heritage we have, while also being excellent citizens of the world and contributing to solving those greater problems you have identified. Best. YF
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Salar on Sep 27, 2014 at 11:51 am
Yukoner Forever.......'We know what's happening in the World'.....and you feel a species (which is an animal) that is not in danger of disappearing anytime soon is a bigger concern!?....dismissing atrocities throughout the world only highlights your selfcentred, ignorant existence. I live here too and there is not enough bad stuff happening to get even a little passionate about....especially a bear....it's inevitable that there will be human/bear incidents....you should expand your horizons and really look at what is important before getting on your (low) high horse over an animal.
Hope your never in charge of any human...and good luck managing your bears.
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Yukoner Forever on Sep 26, 2014 at 10:59 pm
@Salar. Don't pipe in if you have nothing else to say but "Well bad things are happening in other countries too!". With that logic no one in Canada would say anything about any issue. The people who posted on this story expressed sincere opinions about how Yukoners should manage the impact of Yukoners on the Yukon environment. We know what's happening in the World. Put your efforts into commenting on stories about ISIS and other major events; we're talking about managing the human impact on Grizzly Bear populations in the Yukon. If you don't think that's important, great, it's your right.
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Salar on Sep 25, 2014 at 4:30 pm
Now now......those who can't see the other side, gasp, that a bear was shot......while good people all around the world are being killed everyday for greed and conquest......honestly, it isn't the best news but put in perspective surely discloses the utter ignorance and self centeredness of many of the commentors below.
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Old Alaska Highway Resident on Sep 24, 2014 at 8:51 pm
As someone who actually lives on the Old Alaska Highway I am very disappointed by some of the comments from these 'armchair experts'.
I don't keep chickens or dogs, yet my property was repeatedly visited by this bear (he didn't find anything here). I cannot believe that I'm being accused of being "lazy" and "inconsiderate". What about the people who come to Scout Lake every weekend, and food wrappers and beer cans littered everywhere - hmmm, I wonder if that might be attracting bears. I can't tell you how much litter I've cleaned up from that lake. Could they possibly be the "lazy" and "inconsiderate" ones? Well not according to the 'armchair experts' commenting here, who have probably never even spoken to someone who lives here, they find it much easier to accuse those of us who have lived here for years and actually do everything we can to prevent attracting bears, of being lazy, good for nothings who should be fined. That bear likely got his first taste of human food at Scout Lake and then moved onto properties here.
I also take issue with the comment that "there are too many of these encounters" - a quick check of Environment Yukon's stats, we have approx. 17000 bears in Yukon and in 2013, 2 bears were shot in self-defence and COs destroyed one that had been hit by a car and injured.
So 2 bears out of 17000 were destroyed as a result of human - bear encounters. Compare that to bear hunting. In 2013 a total of 179 bears were hunted. So if you're a bear in the Yukon you are 90 times more likely to be killed by hunters than to be killed by those of us who you accuse of being lazy/ inconsiderate/ thoughtless.
I look forward to the outrage from the "armchair experts" about bear hunting / the outfitting industry / trophy hunters - where are all the comments about the bears that would "still be roaming free and happy" but for the hunting industry?
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rico99 on Sep 24, 2014 at 8:09 pm
I find it strange to see people outraged by a bear destroyed for the safety of residents and visitors to the area. Many visitors go to enjoy the wilderness out at scout lake and some leave garbage and fish scraps attracting bears. Then they leave it for the residents and CO to deal with. 20 years ago this would not have been an issue, people just would have taken matters into their own hands, but it seems there is a lot more Walt Disney people out there these days. Lets just leave it to the trophy hunters to kill the non problem bears for us, while the problem bears are safe and sound (unlike the people who actually live here).
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Kenn of the North on Sep 24, 2014 at 7:36 pm
@wildwise Yukon
And herein lies the problem. Placing the blame on homeowners is exactly what is needed if the homeowners do not properly secure their homes, land etc. through proper and reasonable measures. Proper and reasonable measures need to be enforced through spot checks. CO's or perhaps your organization could facilitate this. Although the homeowners in this situation may have done all that could be reasonably expected...how about their neighbors? To propose we all need to learn from this story is valid but I don't think the story is new nor have we heard the last. Without a real and tangible focus and without consequences for homeowners who readily exhibit disregard for an animals welfare then nothing will change.
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westofbelfast on Sep 24, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Attracting dangerous wildlife is against the law...ignorance is no excuse, more over she shot and wounded the bear which exponentially increases the threat. Why has she not been fined? Her story about banging pots and THEN getting off a shot is far fetched to say the least.
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WildWise Yukon on Sep 24, 2014 at 10:36 am
Placing blame on residents who experienced conflict with this bear is NOT what is needed, nor is blaming the CO's for having to deal with this conflict bear. We ALL need to use this story as a learning experience and do our part to ensure that this bear's story is not one that is repeated in our own yards. This story is one that is all too familiar, and is not an isolated incident. Almost every yard we see in the Yukon has something that would need to be stored in a bear-proof manner or removed to reduce the likelihood of a negative bear encounter. Rather than placing blame for this bear's death, ask yourself - what's in yours? It's time we all stepped up and took some steps to prevent conflicts with wildlife on our property.
Visit http://wildwise.ca/home-audits/ for a do-it-yourself checklist of bear-attractants for your home.
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Josey Wales on Sep 24, 2014 at 8:25 am
Funny how when folks "move" to the country for a wilderness experience, they cannot even bother to take precaution in living in said wilderness to keep the wild outta their encroached "home" space. How dare that bear roam around to feed itself!
What next epic complaints that the new gun range across the highway and those pesky pops that are barely audible are interrupting their yoga and social chat time?
Another dead bear because of stupid humans...imagine that.
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Kenn of the North on Sep 24, 2014 at 7:12 am
Too many of these incidents. If a bear must be destroyed and the circumstances are unavoidable then most of us would agree it is the best perhaps only decision. However, if homeowners are not responsible or accountable for their surroundings and possessions then there must be some repercussions. A fine or some other method of making them be responsible should be enforced. Come on guys store your dog food and secure your chicken coops properly!
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BnR on Sep 23, 2014 at 6:38 pm
Section 93 of the Wildlife Act:
"(3) Subject to subsection (4), a person shall be deemed to have encouraged dangerous wildlife to become a public nuisance if the person feeds it or leaves food or garbage in a place where dangerous wildlife may have access to it and he or she does not take reasonable precautions to prevent dangerous wildlife from having access to it or being attracted to the area by it."
Pretty clear. Charge people.
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Yukoner Forever on Sep 23, 2014 at 6:22 pm
The science and practice of managing bear attractants is well over a decade old. As the population of the Yukon grows, and the bear population increases due to fewer hunters, there will be ever more human-bear conflicts. Landowners need to be responsible! They also have to realize that the bears belong to everyone in society, and when one is killed in favour of saving some chickens or dog food, that society is being ripped off. Call the WildWise Yukon program and get the advice and help you need.
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Jason on Sep 23, 2014 at 5:40 pm
Well if you have chickens and dogs it must be a rule to have it protected from bears and such. Sounds like lazy people to me. Maybe make fines for people who don't take the measures to protect their chickens and dog food from wildlife. Because they are making it dangerous for their neighbours and everyone else. Thoughtless and inconsiderate I say.
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Francias Pillman on Sep 23, 2014 at 5:30 pm
The people who didn't secure the food that the bear was attracted to should be fined. 100% preventable. But most people are too lazy. It's easier to just to kill the bear and label it a nuisance than people taking responsibility for their own actions.
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Lynn Alcock on Sep 23, 2014 at 5:01 pm
My husband and I have lived on the Old Alaska Hwy for over 30 years, and so have many of my neighbours. We know how to protect our properties from unwanted bears, but sometimes, that isn't enough. This bear hit our property 5 times and smashed doors on garden sheds, ripped holes in storage sheds and broke two windows. Always having to watch for this unwelcome guest was very stressful.
Neither we nor the Conservation Officers wanted to put the bear down, but he ignored traps and cages. Our safety was paramount, especially not knowing where he was. He is gone, and so is the stress, and repairs can now be done in relative safety.
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Yukon Justice on Sep 23, 2014 at 4:37 pm
If the chicken and dog food had been stored properly that six year old bear would be roaming free and happy.