Ucluelet resident Brandon Halvorson was on vacation when a black bear popped off the plastic cover to his dog door, squeezed through the hole and ate $500 worth of freezer food — plus about an ounce of weed.
After looking over his power bill, Halvorson thinks the food-conditioned animal likely came into his home on July 17 or 18.
“I was calling it the reverse Goldilocks because he tested out the spare bedroom, the couch and my bed and chose my bed to eat the raspberries and bear meat,” said Halvorson, who is 210 pounds and demonstrated how a bear could indeed fit through the dog door.
Halvorson said when he returned from his trip to Dawson Creek on July 22 his house smelt like a rotting animal and his freezer door was open.
“The drawers and ice cube trays were yard saled all over the kitchen,” he said, noting that the bear didn’t do any damage or dent the freezer; it just left footprints, scratch marks and hair.
“I was wondering why he didn’t hang around,” Halvorson continued. “He didn’t touch the pantry and cupboard, and he didn’t open the fridge. Then I remembered I keep my weed in my freezer. I think it’s the weed that saved us. He probably got so paranoid and had to get the (heck) out. I can’t think of another reason he left half of the food behind.”
Halvorson’s house was burglarized by a bear about 10 days after B.C. conservation officers killed three food-conditioned black bears over two days in the Ucluelet area. Conservation officers shot and killed a fourth bear on Aug. 4 at a campground near Ucluelet to ensure public safety.
“The bear displayed food-conditioned behaviour, including accessing tents in search of food,” reads a statement from COS.
“Due to public safety concerns, bears with a conflict history that no longer fear people are not candidates for relocation or rehabilitation. In accordance with provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines, COs dispatched the bear to ensure public safety,” the statement continued.
Halvorson says in the 17 years he’s lived in Ucluelet, he’s never seen bears behave this extreme. He thinks the bears have “decoded” the garbage and organic bins and that weekly garbage pick-ups need to be scheduled.
A flopping residential cart system
According to a report prepared by Bob Hansen at WildSafeBC, “the nature and trend of the documented human-bear conflicts on the West Coast has changed since the implementation of the residential cart system in the fall of 2022.”
Hansen reports that in 2023, conflict bears noticeably shifted away from common attractants and started to primarily focus on garbage, organics and recycling carts.
“This behaviour progressed and the number of food-conditioned bears increased throughout the year 2023,” Hansen wrote.
Flash-forward to the summer of 2025, and the number of cart conflicts continues to climb with reports of food-conditioned bears learning to break brass clips, tearing apart lids and a sow teaching her cubs how to break into the carts, “illustrating the process of generational learning,” Hansen reports.
Ucluelet mayor and council discussed the human-bear conflict during the July 22 regular meeting after receiving a letter from resident Robyn Mair that suggested Ucluelet move away from curbside pick-up to a centralized, communal waste drop-off location like other resort communities such as Whistler and Banff.
Councillor Mark Maftei called centralizing garbage a “red herring” and that the main problem is “people ignoring the rules.”
Maftei, who is the executive director of the Raincoast Education Society (RES), put forward the idea of composting less during the summer months to reduce bear conflict and fining “repeat offenders” into compliance.
“I could list 45 culprits. There needs to be fines. Start issuing fines,” re-iterated Coun. Mayco Noel.
“We need 100 per cent compliance,” said Coun. Jennifer Hoar, who reported that a bear “nosed into the tea shop” in the middle of the day.
Ucluelet bylaw officer Brittney Willms issued 21 warning notices to residents in the last week of July for failing to secure waste. The written warning gives the residents two weeks to fix the situation or face a fine up to $300 under the bylaw.
“Furthermore, if your situation results in attracting a bear onto your property, then whether or not the bear is killed, you may receive additional penalties under the provincial Wildlife Act,” reads a portion of the warning letter from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District’s (ACRD) solid waste manager Paulo Eichelberger.
The ACRD provides bi-weekly garbage and recycling pickup to residents in Tofino, Ucluelet, and surrounding Nuu-chah-nulth communities. Organics are collected weekly. A message to waste manager Eichelberger was not returned.
COS says they have not issued any violation tickets in relation to the recent bear incidents. Under B.C.’s Wildlife Act, there is a $575 violation ticket for feeding wild animals.
WildSafeBC Pacific Rim community co-ordinator Chris Read meets regularly with Ucluelet bylaw and the ACRD to help mitigate wildlife attractants and secure bins in town.
Ideally, Read said the carts need to be kept inside until garbage pick-up or anchored down. Replacing brass carabiners with steel carabiners has also been effective, according to WildSafeBC, and freezing organics before collection day helps reduce the smell.
“Bears are smart. Bears are strong. Once they associate one bin having food and having a good reward, now they know the skill and they can use that and go down the street,” said Read.
“I know it’s not the best system, but it’s what we have right now. We’re just trying to use what funding we have to make it better to see if we can reduce the learning of new bears into our community,” he said. “As we know, they get killed, they get conditioned, there is a long pathway that leads them to that.”
Crosswalks and storefronts along Ucluelet’s Peninsula Road were recently vandalized with red bears with wings. It’s uncertain as to why the “angel bears” appeared, but many locals think they serve as a public reminder to be diligent with garbage — or more bears will end up dead.
Anyone that needs help securing bins or replacing carabiners is encouraged to email Chris Read at: [email protected].
Report all wildlife conflicts to the COS RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.
