Expect grizzlies to show up on North Shore soon, expert warns
Single bear on Grouse possible after recent sighting 40 km away
The slow but sure expansion of southwestern B.C.'s grizzly population means it's likely just a matter of time before the animals appear in the North Shore's mountains, according to a government expert.
Bruce McLellan, a provincial wildlife research ecologist who has been studying the bears for 35 years, says rising numbers and some recent nearby sightings suggest isolated individuals could make their way to the grizzly-free local backwoods any day.
"They're gradually recovering in many places, particularly up around Pemberton," said McLellan. "It would not surprise me if a young male ends up on Grouse Mountain." The researcher's comments come on the heels of media reports that a professional photographer had captured footage of grizzlies in the upper Pitt River in August, about 40 kilometres from North Vancouver, using a remotely activated camera. That would be the closest modern sighting so far, said McLellan. Up until then, the nearest had been in the Squamish area.
He cautioned, however, that the news shouldn't worry bearwary North Shore residents, as it will probably be decades - if ever - before a substantial population establishes itself in the area.
"There's no direct evidence we've got these animals ready to spill over in the hundreds," said McLellan. "Grizzly bears, from a North American large-mammal perspective, are pretty slow to increase." Researchers believe grizzlies were once well established in the southern coastal mountains, although it's hard to say how many would have frequented the Lower Mainland, as large local First Nations communities may have kept the bears at bay.
When Europeans began moving to the region in numbers about 150 years ago, the grizzlies went into rapid decline, hunted by the new arrivals. "We had the gold rush years," said McLellan. "A lot of miners and prospectors and people all over who had no love for grizzly bears shot them all." The animals were actively hunted into the 1950s or 1960s, he said.
But since then, efforts to protect the bears in this part of the province have been paying off, and their numbers are starting to climb. The animals have been slow to take over new territory, however, with each generation of females setting up their own ranges 20 kilometres at most from their mothers'.
Their progress into this area may be especially grinding, as local forests offer inferior grizzly habitat, and the densely populated berry-eating machines that are our black bears may make it difficult for the bigger species to get a toehold, said McLellan.
That doesn't mean the occasional young male won't show up in the near future, however. A male grizzly's territory can span 1,000 kilometres, he said, putting our local mountains well within striking distance of itinerant bears from, say, Pitt River.
While grizzlies - particularly mothers with cubs - can be more aggressive than black bears, people can easily share territory with them without any serious issues, said McLellan.
"It's not going to happen for decades that you'll ever have enough bears around to be a concern at all," he said. "(And then) your town will be like most towns in the province."
McLellan has spent decades living in areas with dense grizzly populations, and has never had a problem, he said. The best way to avoid trouble in the bears' territory is to make a lot of noise, allowing them the chance to clear off before you get close. In the event of an encounter with a mother and cubs, people should back away slowly, crouching to make themselves look small, said McLellan.
"What you don't want is for her to think you're a threat," he said. "They can flip from being a nice, mellow, quiet bear to being pretty wound up real fast. . . . and if you ever are (attacked) by a mother with cubs, that's when the play dead comes in. She'll probably just come up and sniff you and scare the hell out of you and then go away."
"They're gradually recovering in many places, particularly up around Pemberton," said McLellan. "It would not surprise me if a young male ends up on Grouse Mountain." The researcher's comments come on the heels of media reports that a professional photographer had captured footage of grizzlies in the upper Pitt River in August, about 40 kilometres from North Vancouver, using a remotely activated camera. That would be the closest modern sighting so far, said McLellan. Up until then, the nearest had been in the Squamish area.
He cautioned, however, that the news shouldn't worry bearwary North Shore residents, as it will probably be decades - if ever - before a substantial population establishes itself in the area.
"There's no direct evidence we've got these animals ready to spill over in the hundreds," said McLellan. "Grizzly bears, from a North American large-mammal perspective, are pretty slow to increase." Researchers believe grizzlies were once well established in the southern coastal mountains, although it's hard to say how many would have frequented the Lower Mainland, as large local First Nations communities may have kept the bears at bay.
When Europeans began moving to the region in numbers about 150 years ago, the grizzlies went into rapid decline, hunted by the new arrivals. "We had the gold rush years," said McLellan. "A lot of miners and prospectors and people all over who had no love for grizzly bears shot them all." The animals were actively hunted into the 1950s or 1960s, he said.
But since then, efforts to protect the bears in this part of the province have been paying off, and their numbers are starting to climb. The animals have been slow to take over new territory, however, with each generation of females setting up their own ranges 20 kilometres at most from their mothers'.
Their progress into this area may be especially grinding, as local forests offer inferior grizzly habitat, and the densely populated berry-eating machines that are our black bears may make it difficult for the bigger species to get a toehold, said McLellan.
That doesn't mean the occasional young male won't show up in the near future, however. A male grizzly's territory can span 1,000 kilometres, he said, putting our local mountains well within striking distance of itinerant bears from, say, Pitt River.
While grizzlies - particularly mothers with cubs - can be more aggressive than black bears, people can easily share territory with them without any serious issues, said McLellan.
"It's not going to happen for decades that you'll ever have enough bears around to be a concern at all," he said. "(And then) your town will be like most towns in the province."
McLellan has spent decades living in areas with dense grizzly populations, and has never had a problem, he said. The best way to avoid trouble in the bears' territory is to make a lot of noise, allowing them the chance to clear off before you get close. In the event of an encounter with a mother and cubs, people should back away slowly, crouching to make themselves look small, said McLellan.
"What you don't want is for her to think you're a threat," he said. "They can flip from being a nice, mellow, quiet bear to being pretty wound up real fast. . . . and if you ever are (attacked) by a mother with cubs, that's when the play dead comes in. She'll probably just come up and sniff you and scare the hell out of you and then go away."
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Expect+grizzlies+show+North+Shore+soon+expert+warns/5551352/story.html#ixzz1atWVbDF3
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