转贴 BC 黑熊母子的故事 《Trouble bruin in Whistler》

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转贴     BC 黑熊母子的故事  《Trouble bruin in Whistler》

----------  引自 http://www.theprovince.com/Techn ... /1694481/story.html
By Clare Ogilvie, The Province

Jeanie has been a celebrity in the ski resort for years -- but, tragically, her instinct to care for her cubs might get them all killed。

The new grass is still wet with early morning dew as Jeanie, a black bear, grazes on the slopes of a north Whistler ski run, her cub playing nearby.

It seems like a picture-perfect moment. But for bear researcher Michael Allen it is bittersweet. For he knows the 18-year old mama bear, already tagged twice as a problem bruin, will likely head to Whistler Village to find food with her cub in the coming months -- putting both their lives at risk.

It's a reality in B.C. that a bear who is conditioned to seek human food usually ends up dead. Last year in Whistler 11 bears were killed. The year before it was 12.

So habituated is Jeanie to humans that she has charged the conservation and RCMP officers sent to scare her out of the resort's village.

When Jeanie first emerged from her hibernation den, she had three cubs. But in the last few days two of them have disappeared. They may have been killed by males intent on breeding with Jeanie -- a very popular mate -- or by predators.

As sad as that is, said Allen, it would be best for Jeanie if she lost all her cubs. "She takes her cubs down to the village to find food for them and it is so ironic that she is only doing it for them, but it is the worst thing she could do," he said.

"When the police come to shove her out of town, she charges them. When she does come down, I try to get her out as fast as I can," said Allen, running his hand over his cropped hair.

"I swear she gave me all these grey hairs. But we owe it to her to put up with her."

A few years ago when Jeanie was coming into the village at night, all the groups involved with managing bear conflicts put a plan together to walk her out of town and get rid of any human food on her route.

Allen was one of those who, night after night, made sure that Jeanie would find nothing to scavenge.

"I guess in a way I feel kind of responsible for her because I have known her from the beginning and I have recorded her life history and studied behaviour," he said.

But it is not just a scientific relationship. Allen named Jeanie, introduced her to the community through his newspaper columns and highlighted her behaviour.

In 1998, in one of his first encounters with Jeanie, she came right up to him, picked up a book with her mouth that he had lying beside him and walked away with it.

"I think we owe it to her to let her live out the last four or five years of her life with as little conflict

as possible," he said.

After all, it's humans who have put a bike park in her feeding range and introduced new activities such as ATV and Hummer tours.

There is also increased competition among the mother bears.

Allen believes Jeanie's bad behaviour is only a reflection of our own. She's learned that we leave food lying around -- and if she comes down the mountain, she'll find it.

People and businesses leave garbage outside, they grow plants bears love to eat and they put bird feeders outside. A local has even been charged with hand-feeding bears.

Whistler is serious about cutting down on the number of bears destroyed and the number of conflicts.

A new bylaw allows fines of up to $500 against people who do not appropriately dispose of garbage or other materials that might attract bears. If people refuse to comply, the matter is turned over to the provincial court system and offenders can face a fine of up to $10,000 or three months in jail.

The Get Bear Smart Society is working to get rid of bear attractants in the bruin no-go zone of Whistler Village and the Benchlands area -- and succeeding. There were 50-per-cent fewer bear problems reported this May compared with May 2008, said Sylvia Dolson, the society's executive director.

"I am feeling like we are really getting something accomplished," she said.

But re-educating a bear takes time and hard work. "We have already worked on a plan for the summer and fall in the event that Jeanie does come down to the village and get into conflict," said Dolson, who regularly updates Jeanie's Facebook page and webpage (www. bearsmart.com/

Jeanie.html). "We do have a plan and it does not involve destroying anybody."

It's bears such as Jeanie, Slumber --a magnificent male -- and Katie, a strong ski-run mom who never comes to the village, that keep Allen going.

"It shows me that it is possible for a bear to live here and co-exist," said Allen, who has been leading bear-watching tours on the mountains for several years, doing outreach programs in schools and studying and recording the population since 1993.

In many ways Jeanie, named after Allen's Scottish grandmother, is Whistler's canary in the mine.

Her story has been documented for over a decade in the local papers and her life is followed like a soap opera.

When she gets into trouble, locals fear for her; when her cubs are killed -- as one was in a vehicle collision in 2007 -- they grieve.

The next great task, said Allen, is to track the offspring and manage them so they do not have to be destroyed.

For Dolson part of the solution is clear: "We have to maintain what we are doing. If there are no attractants then there are no problems, it is just so simple." cogilvie@theprovince.com
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