What a cold-hearted and ruthless species we are. Grizzly cubs orphaned because some loser kills their mom. And you're sadly right, Mike, these youngsters will grow up and probably be murdered "legally."

There were a rash of human/black bear encounters in the Lower Mainland recently and once again the innocent victims paid the ultimate price.

Second bear killed in Westwood Plateau

Animal climbs into basement
Stuart Hunter, The Province
Published: Friday, August 08, 2008

The second bear encounter in Coquitlam's Westwood Plateau in as many days may mean Brian Fortune never sleeps in again.

"If I had slept in or missed my alarm, I would have been in my apartment when the bear came in," Fortune, 24, said hours after the burly bruin paid an impromptu 7:30 a.m. visit to his basement suite on Turnbury Lane yesterday. "It was one day I was happy that I didn't sleep in."

The concrete finisher was at work when his landlord called to say a golfer had reported to police spotting a 120-kilogram bear climbing in Fortune's open basement-suite window.

"The bear was completely inside the basement suite," said Coquitlam RCMP Const. Sharen Leung. "It was eating at the time."

Eventually, it went back outside.

"In light of [Wednesday's] incident, police took a shot to prevent the bear from being at risk to the public," Leung said, adding the bear was shot in the shoulder area and climbed about halfway to the top of a 30-metre tree in the backyard.

Conservation officers then shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart. After about 10 minutes the bear dropped out of the tree.

"When the conservation officers approached the bear it started to move," Leung said. "It needed to be destroyed, so police assisted with that matter."

Neighbour Adel Kassem heard the "five or six" fatal shots.

"I've seen lots of bears -- I saw one here in my backyard," said Kassem, an auto-body technician who has lived in the area for four years. "All the neighbours walk their dogs on the trails up there. Now I don't want to go up there."

Added neighbor and mother-of-two Natalia Strelkova: "We've seen bears so many times -- almost like every day. It is no surprise at all. We're going to be keeping an eye on our kids."

Fortune said he was surprised to see how little damage the bear had caused to his suite.

"The damage was very minor -- a broken [window] screen, broken blinds and a major gouge in the drywall. I had some fruit on my kitchen counter. It got the bread and nectarines but didn't touch the cantaloupe, oranges or bananas. It definitely loved the nectarines."

Fortune said he has no plans to lock his windows in future. "I might put my fruit in the refrigerator. I just regret that the bear had to be put down."

Fortune said he had not heard about Wednesday's mauling of nearby resident Katy Yin, 49. She was attacked in the front garden of her Bramble Lane home by a black bear but is expected to recover from her injuries. That bear also had to be put down.

Meanwhile, plumber Neill Wotherspoon reported being attacked by a black bear while working behind a house in Anmore on Tuesday.

"He came up from behind and knocked me down," said the 37-year-old Port Coquitlam resident. "I'm 260 [pounds] and I wasn't getting up. Then he just got up off me and walked away."

Wotherspoon was treated in hospital for minor shoulder and leg injuries.

"I was lucky," he said. "I went out and bought my 6/49 ticket but I didn't win."

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Delusional beings

Letter
Published: Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Regarding the recent bear shootings in Coquitlam, the lows of human action never fail to disappoint.

Imagine your home being stripped away. You're hungry, you're frightened, you're trying to survive and then you're shot dead -- in cold blood, like these bears were.

And we like to consider ourselves superior beings?

Let's not be delusional.

Any species that single-handedly wipes out all other life forms and the entire planet is the lowest of all, and the one to be feared the most.

Carmina Gooch,
North Vancouver

© The Vancouver Province 2008