A Powell River man had an encounter with a black bear on the Willingdon Beach Trail and residents are warned to be cautious.
Powell River conservation officer Andrew Anaka said the encounter happened around noon on Wednesday, October 30.
“The way the complaint came in, an individual said he was walking the trail near the campsite end and a bear approached him from behind,” said Anaka. “He turned around and the bear kept approaching him slowly, head down, zig-zagging back and forth in a serpentine motion straight towards him.”
The bear had its head down and eyes locked on the walker, said Anaka.
“This would be considered a predatory response from a bear,” he added. “This is a bear trying to size up an individual or prey and deciding whether or not he wants to take it on and make a meal of it. This was very disconcerting behaviour on the part of the bear.”
Anaka said it also could have meant that the bear is extremely habituated being in the presence of people, wanting to get closer and looking for a handout.
“In either case it is disturbing behaviour,” he said.
The bear approached to about five feet of the man, who stood tall, jumped up and down and yelled at the bear, and it backed off, according to Anaka.
Subsequent to the incident, conservation officers made patrols in the area for about an hour but did not find the bear. Contact was then made with City of Powell River to have warning signs placed on the trail.
Anaka said there have been no further reports of bears in the area.
“With a little bit of luck, they should be heading off and going to bed,” said Anaka. “They are running out of food sources, the weather is getting colder, so they should be heading out of town and going to bed very soon.”
He said it has been a very long and trying bear season. The conservation office is at 418 requests for service since April 1 of this year. It is well above 50 per cent of the average.
While it is difficult to guess at why the problem has been more significant this year, Anaka said it is becoming a generational problem. Sows are raising their cubs in an urban area in Powell River; those cubs grow up and raise families of their own.
“They are all getting the idea that it’s easy living here and we have an abundance of bears that are habituated to living in Powell River because it’s an easy life,” said Anaka.
There is currently a provincial initiative underway regarding bear attractants. Anaka said there is very little tolerance for the public leaving attractants out for bears right now.
“People are being written up for it and being charged for attracting dangerous wildlife to their properties,” said Anaka. “If they have garbage outside, or any other attractants like bird feeders, or residual fruit that is attracting a bear to your property or neighbourhood, you can expect a knock on the door from a conservation officer because we are enforcing that provision of the Wildlife Act strictly.
“It’s simply got to the point where killing bears is not the answer. The answer is removing the attractants; it’s what’s keeping the bears here in town.”
Anaka reminded people of the toll-free telephone number 1.877.952.7277 for people who are having issues with bears. The number is for reporting conflicts.
