The North Shore’s black bears are packing it in for the winter.
“For the bears that are still out and about, I’m only getting calls on a couple of them. I think some of them have selected their dens and they’re pretty quiet,” said Christine Miller, education co-ordinator with North Shore Black Bear Society.
According to conservation officers, six bears were destroyed on the North Shore this year, one sow in North Vancouver and four cubs and a sow in West Vancouver.
“A lot of people were thinking the situation was desperate for bears because the berries dried up early. I expected a lot more calls than I got,” Miller said.
Another five cubs were taken for rehabilitation at the Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley, including three in the last two weeks. The bears have shown good timing as Critter Care has no more room at the inn.
On Wednesday, North Vancouver RCMP and conservation officers shooed an 8.6-kilogram (19-pound) bear out of the Central Lonsdale neighbourhood and tranquilized it.
“Where he came from, I have absolutely no clue. We’d had not sightings reported to me of any family groups in the city,” Miller said.
Another small female was transported to Critter Care from behind the Salmon House on the Hill in Panorama Village on Nov. 22. Last week, Critter Care accepted a cub that was found snooping around the Beach House restaurant in Dundarave.
The Beach House has since opted to sponsor the cub’s rehabilitation at the non-profit. The cost of rearing a bear for the winter is about $5,000.
Miller said she knows of two other orphaned cubs still showing up on the North Shore, one that spent the last three days in a tree in Lynn Creek and another small one on its own near the beach in Deep Cove.
Their chances of survival aren’t high, Miller said, although a mild winter will better their odds.
“It depends on their weight. These ones that are so light, I don’t think they could possibly make it through their winter,” she said.
Miller said she’d like to see North Shore residents maintain the good habits they’ve developed in keeping their yards free of attractants and being diligent with garbage, as bears are known to venture out for a mid-winter snack from time to time.
“The North Shore has had just a remarkable change in how our people are dealing with their household waste,” she said.
Miller said thanks are also owed to the conservation officers who have worked hard to rescue cubs.
