August 02, 2006

Honourable Minister Barry Penner

Minister of Environment
PO Box 9047 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC
V8W 9E2

Re: B. Murray’s response to e-mail response sent on July 27th by Assistant Deputy Minister Nancy Wilkins(File 88779) regarding the B.C. Government’s position on the captive grizzly bear, Boo, at Kicking Horse Ski Resort.

Dear Minister Penner,

Since 2001 I have been working as a volunteer bear conservationist along side of the Conservation Officer Service and my community in efforts to follow your Bear Smart program. In 2003 I became a member of the International Bear Association and I have been privileged to become acquainted with well-known bear experts across North America.

After consultation with several of these “bear experts”, I would like to share with you what I have confirmed or learned regarding Boo’s weight loss, return to his enclosure and other factors while he remained in the wild for over 30 days:

1. All bears lose weight during the summer months

2. Given Boo’s early maturity and considerable weight for his young age, weight loss was to be expected. This should not be a huge concern or factor in assessing his health condition.

3. Boo’s return to Kicking Horse enclosure was a natural return to a known food source.

4. Boo did not become a nuisance or threat to humans while free in the wild for over 30 days.

5. Kicking Horse Resort’s zoo does not have to adhere to the same regulations for holding captive bears that the BC rehabilitation facilities do.

6. Kicking Horse Resort has lost one grizzly in a den death and now has experienced Boo’s escape without undergoing an external, unbiased review.

7. Boo’s learned negative conditioning to electrified fencing at Grouse Mountain Resort’s zoo challenges the information that Boo escaped twice.

8. There are safer and better options for Boo than living under a gondola and beside ski runs for the rest of his days.

The most ‘misinterpreted’ point above is that Boo returned to the enclosure to surrender himself to a captive life because he could not survive in the wild. This is not a fair assumption or the view of many bear experts. Boo’s return reinforces the well known fact that bears will return to known food sources when in search of food. After trying different food sources for over 30 days, he merely chose to visit his primary food source again.

What seems to have been overlooked during Boo’s escape and time in the wild is the positive fact that Boo did not seek out “people” when foraging in the wild. He did not act like a typical, habituated nuisance bear and pose a threat to human safety. On the contrary, Boo at no time approached humans in search of food and therefore, did not pose a threat to humans and/or their property. By remaining wary of humans and respecting the invisible human-bear boundaries, Boo demonstrated the very behaviour, instincts and intelligence that supports rehabilitation of grizzlies and all bears.

Your office’s comment that Kicking Horse Resort has attempted to behave ethically and responsibly I have no doubt is correct. The problem many of us have with the zoo at Kicking Horse Ski Resort is the lack of consultation with bear experts and the lack of enforced standards governing the captivity of large carnivores. Defined standards for captive large carnivores, though under-developed and under-researched, exist in BC and are applied by your office to the four bear rehabilitation facilities here.

In your letter you praise Kicking Horse Resort’s zoo as well managed and accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Unfortunately, CAZA has a history of accrediting many facilities in Canada that do not meet their US counterpart, AZA’s, accreditation standards. In April 2004, Boo’s brother died in his den without any substantive scrutiny or review and now in June 2006, Boo escaped for over a month. I would suggest an outside review is now needed to assess Kicking Horse’s facilities and it’s suitability to contain large carnivores.

It is my belief, and others, that an outdoor enclosure at a busy year-round resort is no place for orphaned grizzly bears. Both orphan grizzly and black bear cubs should be first given the chance of being wild by entering into one of the established bear rehab programs in B.C. A zoo at a ski resort should not be given priority over a rehab facility when orphaned wildlife is in need of care. For-profit zoos should also have to be subjected to the same regulations for enclosing and caring for wildlife that govern the BC rehabilitation facilities.

Please allow me to also correct information released by your Ministry that Boo escaped on two occasions. The “second escape” most probably was not made by Boo but rather, and I have this on good authority, by a “wild”, possibly older bear, which was tranquilized and detained by mistake. When this ‘wild’ bear recovered, it bolted through a steel door and a reinforced electric fence without fear of electrifying consequences.

The reason why many of us believe Boo did not escape a second time thru the electric fencing was due to his early negative conditioning to electricity. He and the other 3 very young orphaned cubs at Grouse Mountain Resort were baited by food on electrified wires a few times to ensure they would remember this ‘shocking’ and ‘stressful’ experience forever. It is a very effective means to keep bears away from the wires, even when the electricity is off. It is well documented that Boo was known to bluff charge his electric fence from time to time but had never tried to force his way thru it. In June, he escaped by digging a hole under the fence due to his learned fear of electricity.

Now I believe that Boo is again in his enclosure, held captive by an electric fence and is able to be viewed by visitors who pass overhead on the Gondola, though the zoo is no longer open to visitors? I am hopeful, upon hearing that your Ministry is working closely with Kicking Horse Resort, that you will find a compassionate solution for “Boo” that will be in his best long term interests.

Minister Penner, I know you care about nature and our wildlife. I hope you will consider my information with respect to “Boo” in particular and grizzlies in general. Bear experts are out there ready and able to help. There are better, safer options for Boo that would be more fair and humane rather than having him live his days out beside ski runs and under a gondola. The current situation at Kicking Horse is not an accurate portrayal of how B.C. residents value their wildlife.

Please Minister Penner put things back into the proper perspective for us and for Boo.

Sincerely,

Barbara Murray

Bear Matters BC

cc to Daniel Jarvis,MLA and Premier Gordon Campbell
note:Letter From Minister Penner's Office Posted on www.bearmatters.com in 'News' for July 27, 2006