swailmeister
CGN Regular
- Location
- Southern, Ontario
I guess the cancelling of the spring bear hunt is working...in the MNR's eyes anyway.
Large bear may have attacked second man
Drew Halfnight, National Post
Published: Thursday, May 27, 2010
Authorities believe a black bear who attacked an Ontario man last week may have struck again, stoking fears a rogue bear is on the loose in cottage country.
"This is not your average bear," said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Peter Leon. "This is a bear that viciously attacked a human being and left him with very serious injuries."
On Tuesday, a bear charged a man driving an ATV near Severn Township, on Georgian Bay north of Toronto. The incident occurred five kilometres from the spot where last week a bear fitting the same description pursued a man up an oak tree, shredding the man's calves.
In both cases, the bears were large males that charged from great distances, behaviour that is "rather unusual" and indicates they are "potentially" the same bear, said Jolanta Kowalski, a spokeswoman with the Ministry of Natural Resources. The ministry has set up three live traps in the area and hopes to catch and kill it by lethal injection. "We don't want to take any chances," Mr. Kawalski said.
The man attacked last week, Gerald Marois, blamed the province's decision 10 years ago to cancel the spring bear hunt. All other Canadian provinces with bears have spring hunts except Nova Scotia.
Mr. Kawalski said areas with two seasonal hunts ''still have bear problems," but agreed 2010 has been a busy year for bear sightings.
"It looks like it's been a worse year so far in our north region, and it's been fairly busy in the northwest, which includes places like Kenora and Red Lake," he said. In the southern region, which includes Midland and Severn Township, 176 occurrences have been recorded, which is five more than last year.
Indeed, other bear incidents have been recorded in nearby Ontario towns such as Pointe au Baril, Tiny Township and Midland, where a large black bear was spotted at a country club on Tuesday night. "We were sitting on the golfers' patio and then we see this black flash," said Teresa Grattan, an employee at Brooklea Golf and Country Club. Golfers were ordered off the course while the bear swam up an obstacle creek near the 10th hole. I disappeared into the brush somewhere near the 17th green.
"He was so bold, it was amazing," Ms. Grattan said. "Now they're saying, 'Have you got your nine iron in case the bear comes out?'"
She said bears had not been seen at the club in years, and this one was so out-of-place that the first person to see the bear yelled out, "Cougar!"
Later that night, another bear was seen wandering around the grounds of a Midland high school, prompting local police to release a warning that, "any wild animal that has no fear of man poses a potential danger to the public."
While black bears are mostly vegetarian, a shortage of berries and seeds can lead bears to look elsewhere for fat, whether in the drip tray of a barbecue, a bird feeder or "anything that's kind of fragrant," including candles, lotions and human flesh.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=3075875#ixzz0pA5ORQs3
Large bear may have attacked second man
Drew Halfnight, National Post
Published: Thursday, May 27, 2010
Authorities believe a black bear who attacked an Ontario man last week may have struck again, stoking fears a rogue bear is on the loose in cottage country.
"This is not your average bear," said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Peter Leon. "This is a bear that viciously attacked a human being and left him with very serious injuries."
On Tuesday, a bear charged a man driving an ATV near Severn Township, on Georgian Bay north of Toronto. The incident occurred five kilometres from the spot where last week a bear fitting the same description pursued a man up an oak tree, shredding the man's calves.
In both cases, the bears were large males that charged from great distances, behaviour that is "rather unusual" and indicates they are "potentially" the same bear, said Jolanta Kowalski, a spokeswoman with the Ministry of Natural Resources. The ministry has set up three live traps in the area and hopes to catch and kill it by lethal injection. "We don't want to take any chances," Mr. Kawalski said.
The man attacked last week, Gerald Marois, blamed the province's decision 10 years ago to cancel the spring bear hunt. All other Canadian provinces with bears have spring hunts except Nova Scotia.
Mr. Kawalski said areas with two seasonal hunts ''still have bear problems," but agreed 2010 has been a busy year for bear sightings.
"It looks like it's been a worse year so far in our north region, and it's been fairly busy in the northwest, which includes places like Kenora and Red Lake," he said. In the southern region, which includes Midland and Severn Township, 176 occurrences have been recorded, which is five more than last year.
Indeed, other bear incidents have been recorded in nearby Ontario towns such as Pointe au Baril, Tiny Township and Midland, where a large black bear was spotted at a country club on Tuesday night. "We were sitting on the golfers' patio and then we see this black flash," said Teresa Grattan, an employee at Brooklea Golf and Country Club. Golfers were ordered off the course while the bear swam up an obstacle creek near the 10th hole. I disappeared into the brush somewhere near the 17th green.
"He was so bold, it was amazing," Ms. Grattan said. "Now they're saying, 'Have you got your nine iron in case the bear comes out?'"
She said bears had not been seen at the club in years, and this one was so out-of-place that the first person to see the bear yelled out, "Cougar!"
Later that night, another bear was seen wandering around the grounds of a Midland high school, prompting local police to release a warning that, "any wild animal that has no fear of man poses a potential danger to the public."
While black bears are mostly vegetarian, a shortage of berries and seeds can lead bears to look elsewhere for fat, whether in the drip tray of a barbecue, a bird feeder or "anything that's kind of fragrant," including candles, lotions and human flesh.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=3075875#ixzz0pA5ORQs3
