B.C. teens climb tree to escape bear as encounters on the rise

Bear encounters on northern Vancouver Island are on the rise, and the latest incident resulted in two teenagers having to scramble up a tree for safety.

Conservation officer Steve Petrovic says the teens were near a large commercial garbage bin near the intersection of Pine Drive and Granville Street in Port Hardy, B.C., and were unaware that a mature bear was nearby.

"Unknown to these two individuals, a mature, garbage-habituated black bear was standing within about six feet of them," Petrovic said. "The bear reportedly huffed and growled at these two individuals and [the teens] were observed running towards some adjacent trees and it’s reported that the individuals climbed a nearby tree."

Petrovic says the call was received to the conservation service's reporting line at 5 a.m. Monday. It wasn’t clear if the bear pursued the teens but it did reportedly leave the area in the same direction the teens had run.

'IT IS A HUMAN-CAUSED PROBLEM'

The bear is believed to be a different bear than the one that reportedly chased a man in Port Hardy on May 20. RCMP say that encounter happened on Takush Road around 1:20 a.m.

Petrovic says the incidents with problem bears continues to be traced back to problem humans.

"It is a human-caused problem. We have some commercial dumpsters that are not being properly latched by those persons using them. We have residential garbage and residential recycling that is being accessed by bears." he said.

He said there are likely four bears within the community that are exhibiting the same behaviour, looking for easy food sources.

Vi-Anne Roberts operates the North Island Wildlife Awareness Facebook page, a group with over 2,000 members which started eight years ago.

She says 2022 has already been a hectic year for bears, including one in her own neighbourhood. She recently captured an encounter between her dog and a large black bear in front of her home.

"I’ve never seen a bear do what that bear did that night by turning around and coming back," she said. "The only reason the bear ran away was because a lady stepped out onto her porch to find out what was going on and her dog saw the bear and started barking at it," she said.

'HE'S RIPPED DOORS RIGHT OFF THEIR HINGES'

She said the same bear has been in her neighbourhood for a long time.

"They’ve tried to catch him several times in the traps and no avail," she said. "He’s a smart guy. He’s big and he’s smart and now unfortunately he’s become pretty aggressive and destructive. He’s ripped doors right off their hinges to get at garbage in a shed, chewed up a neighbour’s siding on his place and then just yesterday tried to get into a neighbour’s home."

Petrovic says the situation is not unique to Port Hardy but also observed in other communities in the province. He said garbage is either not being stored in a secure manner or dirty recycling is emitting strong odors that the bears are detecting.

"It just takes one person on the street to not do their part, to make a bad choice, put garbage out before they’re supposed to or not have it secured and it belittles everyone else’s efforts” Petrovic said.

Petrovic encourages the public to report any sightings or conflicts with wildlife to the Report All Poachers and Polluters line at 1-877-952-7277.