Tantriqu
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Sep 03 2010
3:30pm
Drug Bust Leads Canadian Police to Domesticated-Bear Discovery
Courtesy RCMP
They definitely aren't biting the hand that feeds them: instead, more than 10 wild black bears in Christina Lake, British Columbia, are eagerly filling up on daily dog food handouts courtesy of a local couple. But the human hosts are in big trouble — and not just for their environmental faux pas.
Canadian investigators were summoned to the couple's home on late July with a search warrant for marijuana plants, of which they found a staggering 1,000. But it was the discovery of all the black bears on the property that really shocked authorities — especially when the creatures appeared almost ... friendly.
"The officers were a little nervous at first," said Sgt. Rob Vermeulen, "but then it became quite apparent that the bears were used to humans, and pretty docile."
Environmental officers were called in to investigate the case, and now the unnamed couple face charges for their feedings — and potentially up to 12 months in jail. But first they've been ordered by the government to continue feeding the bears until winter, when the creatures will go into hibernation.
"They must gradually reduce the amount of food they're providing to the bears, and start changing from dog food to more natural food types," says Canadian Environment Minister Barry Penner,"it gives us the best chance to break the pattern the bears have become accustomed to."
The couple will have to prepare and present raw fruits and veggies like carrots, potatoes, berries and apples to the bears — at their own expense — for at least the next six weeks, or until it's cold enough for the animals to seek shelter.
If, by chance, the bears return to the property next year, Penner says environmental officers will consider trapping and relocating the animals. "It's not a Disney movie," he jokes. "British Columbia has Canada's largest black bear population, about 160,000 [of them]. No matter where you take them, they'll encounter other bears who could become territorial if they're competing for the same food supply." Though relocation is not ideal, it's a better option than euthanization, which Penner is opposed to. "I'm hoping we can avoid having to put down the bears," he says. "That's why we've settled on this approach of gradually weaning them off the dog food. It's our hope they'll go back to finding food from natural sources in the wild, without conflict."
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