Pesky bruin's luck runs out
Hatchery staff worried about hazards posed by bear at Goldstream

Louise Dickson
Times Colonist

Saturday, November 05, 2005

A young male bear, which had become a nuisance at the Howard English Hatchery on the Goldstream River, has been destroyed.

The bear was captured in a live trap Thursday night outside the hatchery, which is located in the Goldstream watershed on land owned by the Capital Regional District.

The bear had been feeding on salmon carcasses placed in the stream by the hatchery to replenish the stream with nutrients. It had also broken into poorly secured fish food and was becoming bolder around human beings.

After the bear's capture, conservation officer Peter Pauwels outlined the options to CRD officials and to Peter McCully, the hatchery's technical adviser. He said he could try to relocate the bear -- but couldn't guarantee it would never return -- or he could destroy it.

"I'm leaving the decision to them because the bear has only caused a problem for them," he said.

The bear was a candidate for relocation because it had only recently become a problem and hadn't caused problems anywhere else, said Pauwels. He suggested moving the bear 20 or 30 kilometres from the watershed but acknowledged there was a 30 per cent chance the animal would find its way back to the hatchery.

Conservation officers don't like moving the bears too far from their natural territory at this time of year because they're getting ready to hibernate, he explained.

"It causes too much undue hardship."

In the end, McCully decided the bear should be euthanized to protect visiting school groups and volunteers who work at the hatchery.

"It's a question of zero tolerance," said McCully. "The decision rests with me, but I don't have a choice. Even if it was a one or two per cent chance of the animal coming back and potentially harming someone, I couldn't accept that."

Pauwels, who euthanized the bear Friday afternoon, said he was OK with McCully's decision but he wasn't happy.

"It's not the bear's fault. The hatchery feels responsible for what happened here and they are willing to take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Prevention is our main focus in dealing with problem bears and I'm going to give them advice on how to prevent bears becoming a problem there in the future."

The hatchery has always placed adult male and female salmon carcasses in the stream and never had a bear problem before, said McCully.

From now on, those carcasses will be placed further downstream away from the hatchery. The fish food is now properly secured.

"There's more things we can do, but unfortunately, it's too late for the bear," said the conservation officer.

http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/vitc/20051105/165095-54341.jpg