Re: Fast-Food Nation TakesToll on Black Bears

Sloppy campers an 'extreme danger'

Hunters, bears at risk because food, debris are left at campsites

by Larry Pynn in the Vancouver Sun
Dec.1, 2003

A provincial consultant's report says sloppy camp conditions and questionable
hunting practices are creating an extreme danger of attacks on humans, and the
needless slaughter of grizzlies in B.C.'s Northern Rockies.

Bear biologist Wayne McCrory found that hunters routinely leave groceries, game
carcasses, garbage, and horse feed at their campsites during hunting trips.
Grizzlies search out these attractive sources of food, become aggressive, and
have to be shot.

The situation is so bad in the eastern section of B.C.'s Muskwa-Kechika
management area that McCrory is urging hunters to pack portable electric fences
with them as an interim measure until more permanent bear-proofing can be put
in place.

"The conflict rate is unusually high," he concluded in his report, obtained by
The Vancouver Sun after a freedom-of-information request. "I rate ... hunting
[of hooved animals] in the [Muskwa-Kechika] as a very high-risk outdoor pursuit
for both humans and grizzlies."

McCrory investigated 31 camps along the Sikanni Chief River, Buckinghorse
River, Nevis Creek and Chicken Creek in October last year. None of the camps
was bear-proof.

Hunters placed food and meat within 20 metres of their tents, some immediately
adjacent to them. Game hung from cross-poles typically was within a bear's easy
reach, in some cases less than a metre from the ground.

In 2000 in the Muskwa-Kechika -- a 6.3-million-hectare management area centred
in the Northern Rockies northwest of Fort St. John -- hunters shot at least 13
grizzlies in conflict situations, including five breeding-age females and some
of their offspring.

In about half of those cases, grizzlies were shot at camp. Other grizzlies were
shot in the field while hunters sought prey such as moose and caribou. McCrory
said "most hunters' natural reaction is to try to shoot their way out of the
situation, not always with success."

During the study, one hunter was seriously mauled by a grizzly in the Northern
Rockies, while a black bear killed an oil-field worker near Fort Nelson.

McCrory recommends the use of small, portable electric fences to be placed
around hunting camps and game. Over the longer term, he urged an "aggressive
program of bear-proofing all storage facilities and structures" to protect
hunters and grizzlies.

He found that "hunters contribute significantly towards the development of
problem or nuisance bears," leading to a "downward spiral of increased
aggression, food-seeking travel to obtain food from camps, eventually ending in
bear mortality."

Even an outfitter's camp at Nevis Creek showed poor practices: Game was stored
in a meat house protected only by a screen, and located only five metres from
two sleeping cabins.

"Under the circumstances, the hazard for guests ... was rated extreme,
particularly for nocturnal treks to the privy facilities," McCrory said in his
report.

Andy Ackerman, the province's regional wildlife manager in Fort St. John, said
Wednesday that McCrory's "balanced" report provides the basis for making
wilderness travel in the Muskwa-Kechika safer for hunters and hikers.

Park rangers are already experimenting with portable electric fencing when they
camp in the area. Stakeholders such as hunting, guiding, and hiking
organizations will also be asked to donate money for bear-proof caches that
blend into the landscape.

Doug Eady, president of the Peace-Liard region of the B.C. Wildlife Federation,
said he supports portable electric fences powered either by battery or solar
energy as a good compromise for hunters. Some even come with alarms.

He also encouraged hunters to carry pepper spray, especially since it might not
be possible to use a rifle in a surprise or close-quarter encounter with a
bear, and to receive better education on camping techniques when hunting.

In defence of hunters he argued that with limited-entry hunting regulations,
the population of grizzlies is increasing in the north. He added it is not
always possible to be able to erect a cross-pole high enough to escape a bear's
reach, adding little can be done to avoid encounters with bears attracted to
left-over guts at a kill site.

McCrory urged a more detailed study of all 700 hunting camps in the
Muskwa-Kechika, a wilderness laced with designated routes for resident hunters
on all-terrain vehicles or horseback. Ackerman said there is no budget for more
work right now.

Foreign hunters from as far afield as the U.S. and Germany also visit the
region starting in August each year for guided hunts costing up to the U.S.
equivalent of $26,000 Cdn.

On its Web site for parks in the Muskwa-Kechika, the ministry of water, land
and air protection encourages visitors to "store garbage with your food, out of
reach of bears," to pack out garbage, and to not sleep in clothes that might
carry cooking odours.

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=1E718DC6-E80B-4828-99BA-6015E65E0637