I just finished reading the headlines about garbage fed bears (Penticton Western News, Sept. 12, ‘Garbage-fed bears are dead bears’).
It is a fact that bears forage in garbage cans and we do need better ways to handle this problem, but there are other ways to handle this situation too.
READ MORE: We are not ‘cold blooded killers’ when it comes to bears: Penticton conservation officer
In Banff, they have a place where black and grizzly bears eat and get along wonderfully. The rangers put out pumpkins and the bears love it. The pumpkins fill the bears up, as most bears that forage for food are pregnant and need nourishment for their babies that they will have during hibernation. Shooting a pregnant bear to me is like running over a deer multiple times to kill it (that cop could have used a stun gun to kill that deer).
READ MORE: ‘Garbage-fed bears are dead bears’ - Penticton conservation officer
Anyway, I hear no compassion for the bears in that article. Relocating will work if you give them something to eat. It’s hunger that drives them to us. They don’t like us anymore than we want them shot.
If the solution is giving nutritious food that will keep them happy and at very little cost to take a couple of trucks and haul pumpkins out of town, then I will volunteer my time to help. We are at a breaking point now with our wildlife going into extinction, that it would be reasonable to make smart choices.
Halloween could be a joyous time for man and beast.
Lyn Jaquish
Penticton