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Bear shooting prompts calls for cleaner construction sites

Only days after a young black bear was shot and killed on a construction site, the conservation officer returned to find a layer of food waste in a bin marked for drywall only.

Only days after a young black bear was shot and killed on a construction site, the conservation officer returned to find a layer of food waste in a bin marked for drywall only.

The drywall bin is on the street next to the Four Seasons Hotel construction site on Blackcomb Way. It was there that a bear was destroyed on Thursday, Oct. 2.

"(PCL Construction) told me that it’s mostly workers on the site being sloppy with the food garbage and putting it in the wrong bin (as well as) people who take garbage from their house and throw it in the bin because it’s convenient," said local Conservation Officer Chris Doyle, who is investigating the situation.

"They assured me they’re doing everything they can to ensure that garbage gets disposed of properly."

But it only takes one small burger wrapper or a stray french fry to tempt a hungry black bear into trouble and it was likely food waste that lured this young black bear onto the site. He is the first black bear to be destroyed in Whistler this year and his death has prompted resident black bear researcher Michael Allen to call for more diligence with food waste on construction sites around town.

"The construction bins in Whistler are just horrendous right now," said Allen.

"That’s going to be one of Whistler’s main concerns for the future. If we’re going to go through the next five or six years developing for the Olympics with more residential and more commercial and recreational facility development, then they need to get a handle on construction bins."

Doyle said there has been an ongoing garbage issue at the Four Seasons site for a while, which has been attracting the bears to the area. He was not aware of the problem until last week.

Construction workers, arriving for work Oct. 2, discovered the 100-pound bear high on the scaffolding of the hotel, sleeping outside the seventh floor. Doyle was called in immediately to deal with the situation and the evacuation horn was blown signaling all 350 workers to get off the site.

Doyle was faced with a tough dilemma when he arrived on the scene. He was hesitant to tranquilize the bear because he didn’t want it to plummet to the ground from the scaffolding. So he felt the best option was to herd the bear back down the stairs and outside even if it would put stress on the animal who was only one or two years old.

"Our first idea was to get it out of the building and I knew it was a risk that we were taking to try and herd it out of the building because we were in a confined space and so was the bear," said Doyle.

"And it’s a dangerous place... it’s a building under construction. There’s lots of hazards, there’s open windows or scaffolding where the bear or any people in the building could find themselves getting injured."

Though driven towards the stairwell, the young bear chose to go up rather than down and made his way back out to the scaffolding. This time he was higher up.

"Usually bears will try and go out the same way they came but in this case the bear was lost or confused or didn’t know how to get out," said Doyle.

They were in a narrow dark hallway and Doyle tried again to force him back down the stairs. It was then that the bear decided to charge.

"It came at me and I tried to get away but looked behind and the bear was closing the distance," said Doyle.

When the bear was about 10 feet away, he made the decision to shoot.

"When it’s that close, instinct takes over," he said.

"I don’t feel good about it. Anytime you have to shoot a bear it’s not a good day. At the end of the day I did what I thought was right at the time."

He wasn’t the only one who didn’t feel good about it. Workers on the ground below heard the series of shots ringing out and they knew right away that the bear was dead. Shortly after the bear was carted out in a wheeled garbage bin.

Charles Bigelow, a landscaper on the site, said he felt sick to his stomach and was in shock when he heard the shots.

Like many other workers on the site he’s questioning why the bear ultimately had to be shot.

"It’s an absolute disgrace, I think, what has occurred," said Gavin Duffell, another construction worker on the site.

"As far as I’m concerned it shouldn’t have happened. (It’s) due to the poor, poor management of garbage and litter on that job site," said Duffell who has been working on the Four Seasons project since it first began.

"I’m talking about guys walking on the job site and eating anywhere and everywhere and just throwing their garbage and their french fries and gravy and things like that on the ground. That’s what the guys do."

Duffell said PCL, the construction company in charge of the site, is always telling the workers to be careful of their food waste and each worker is given an orientation about the bears when they first begin to work on the site.

In addition there are proper containers on hand for disposal of food garbage.

"Every Friday morning we have a safety meeting with the whole site, which happened again at 10 o’clock (the day after the shooting) where we reinforced the importance of keeping the area clean... and we do it every single week in our safety meetings," said Sean Brock, PCL project director of the Four Seasons site.

Doyle is continuing to investigate and could issue a dangerous wildlife protection order if appropriate. That order comes under the authority of the Wildlife Act and requires people contain attractants that many entice dangerous wildlife. If they fail to do so, they can be charged.

Whistler has made great strides to manage its bear/people conflicts in recent years.

Through education programs residents are conscious of the threat their garbage poses to the bears. If education doesn’t work, bylaw officers also have the authority to levy $200 fines on property owners who are throwing food garbage into non-bear proof bins. In recent years residents and bears have been able to coexist quite peacefully.

"People are extremely good in this community to help protect the bears," said Brian Barnett, general manager of public works and engineering at the municipality.

But it’s the construction sites that pose a big problem to the bears now said Allen.

"We’re keeping areas cleaner now but that open garbage bin filled with old two by fours is still there," he said.

He said a bear can smell and uncover a small food wrapper buried in the bottom of the bin.

"They’ve been getting into containers for the last 30 years in Whistler so they will always check out a container," he added.

If there’s more construction in the coming years, Allen calls for stricter garbage management guidelines on sites so workers are aware of the difference between food waste bins and construction waste bins and follow the protocol accordingly.

"Whistler is approaching another big development phase and if they do go into the Olympics with all of these development plans, they need to have some kind of system in place where they can deal with these large open bins," he said.

"Because if they don’t they’re going to be dealing with the same thing they did in the early ’90s with bears getting in the construction bins everywhere."