Citizens debate killing of bear at Grand Beach

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Nine-year-old Caiden Gault enjoys a picnic with his mom Darcie, dad Steve and brother Reece, close to the area where a black bear was put down at Grand Beach Thursday. (PHOTOS BY PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Shootings up this year

Black bear encounters in Manitoba as of Aug. 10 for both 2010 and 2011:

2010

670 bear reports

19 bears trapped

31 bears shot and killed

2011

683 bear reports

30 bears trapped

74 bears shot and killed

 

Manitoba Conservation prioritizes bear encounters in built-up areas in three ways:

Category 1: Bear sighted, walking by. Conservation department response: None

Category 2: Bear reported on deck, sniffing barbecue, into garbage can. Conservation department response: Trap set, attempt to relocate.

Category 3: Bear in a populated area, in cottage country or town/city, displaying agitated/aggressive behaviour, public at risk. Conservation department response : Bear in tree will be tranquilized and relocated. Bear on the ground will be shot and killed.

 

The number of bears put down annually in Manitoba has ranged from 380 bears in 2005 to 105 bears in 2008. In 2010, the annual total was 176.

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Gulls, like bears, are attracted to unattended food. (PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Natural Resources officer Rob Belanger admitted feeling unfairly criticized after the bear was put down. (PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Jim and Laurel Block, visiting from B.C., said safety has to come first. (PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

GRAND BEACH -- A day after a black bear was put down by RCMP, the shooting remained the talk of the beach.

But the sentiment among many here at this provincial park was support for the Manitoba Conservation policy that led to an RCMP officer killing the agitated bear behind the concession stand at the park's west beach.

"You've got people and a bear looking for food," Darcie Gault said Friday, as she echoed the opinion held by others. "You don't know what that bear's going to do. What other option did they have?"

Rob Belanger, a conservation officer for the Grand Beach district, said bears frequent the cottage and bush areas of the park but he couldn't recall the last time a black bear wandered through the sandy dunes during the day.

Belanger said while there were five or six seasonal parks officers on duty Thursday at the park's west beach, none of them was armed. Belanger said he was on duty but in Winnipeg when the bear wandered near the beach area.

"I contacted the RCMP immediately and asked them to deal with it," Belanger said. "They did exactly what I would have done."

Belanger said those who suggested the bear could have been tranquilized and relocated do not understand that the tranquilizer doesn't take effect immediately and that could create a scenario of an angry bear running around a crowded area.

"I would rather be judged for shooting the bear than be judged for not shooting it and it coming around the corner and mauling somebody," Belanger said. "The situation (Thursday) was exactly that."

Belanger said the Grand Beach district -- an area stretching from Scanterbury north to Victoria Beach including Stead, between Lake Winnipeg and Highway 59 -- has more than 7,000 cottages and plenty of opportunity for bear-human interaction.

Weather conditions this year have resulted in a scarcity of berries, Belanger said, which results in bears searching out other sources of food and coming into contact with people.

There have been 114 bear reports as of Wednesday for the district, compared to 51 contacts last year for the same time period.

"And I already have had four (Friday) morning," he said.

Belanger said the number of bear contacts will likely increase as September approaches, adding it could total 180 contacts.

"Bears are opportunistic. They follow their nose. If I was a bear by the Grand Beach park and smelled barbecue, that's where I'd be."

Belanger admitted he and other Natural Resources officers were feeling unfairly criticized for the decision to kill the bear.

"Why didn't they tranquilize it, why didn't they do something else other than shoot it, why didn't they trap it." Belanger said of the questions that have been directed at his office. "I'd love to get that bear out of there safely but when there are people in every direction, where is that bear going to go. I can't take that chance."

Jim Block, a B.C. resident visiting family with his wife Laurel, said he'd hoped that the Conservation department could employ a fast-acting tranquilizer that would stop a bear in its tracks, but without it, he said he understands why bears have to be shot.

"People's safety has to come first," Block said.

Steve Gault said his family has a cottage at Gull Lake, where a bear was trapped recently.

"You can tell that the Natural Resources did not want to hurt the bear," Gault said. "But here, on the beach, with all these children around. I have no problem with putting it down."

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Shootings up this year

Black bear encounters in Manitoba as of Aug. 10 for both 2010 and 2011:

2010

670 bear reports

19 bears trapped

31 bears shot and killed

2011

683 bear reports

30 bears trapped

74 bears shot and killed

Manitoba Conservation prioritizes bear encounters in built-up areas in three ways:

Category 1: Bear sighted, walking by. Conservation department response: None

Category 2: Bear reported on deck, sniffing barbecue, into garbage can. Conservation department response: Trap set, attempt to relocate.

Category 3: Bear in a populated area, in cottage country or town/city, displaying agitated/aggressive behaviour, public at risk. Conservation department response : Bear in tree will be tranquilized and relocated. Bear on the ground will be shot and killed.

The number of bears put down annually in Manitoba has ranged from 380 bears in 2005 to 105 bears in 2008. In 2010, the annual total was 176.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 13, 2011 A11