Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Dispatches

Black bear Jeanie killed after challenging behaviour
68661_l

Sylvia Dolson of the Get Bear Smart Society had a bad feeling when she went away on holiday. The berry crop was one of the worst in decades, and an increase in human-bear conflict seemed likely.

She was especially concerned about Jeanie, Whistler's iconic black bear, and her cub.

"I had been keeping in touch via email and I knew of her escalating conflict behaviour in the last few weeks," said Dolson. "I was working with the CO (Conservation Officer Service) and our program coordinator Dawn Johnson to try and prevent something like this happening."

But last Friday her worst fear was realized when conservation officers destroyed Jeanie.

The black bear has been a fixture in Whistler for close to two decades, easily identifiable from the triangular patch of white fur on her chest. Over the years she has been featured in books and in a documentary, and when people came to Whistler and booked tours to see bears it was often Jeanie and her most recent cubs that made the experience.

"Jeanie was a bear that was so tolerant of people," said Dolson. "She allowed us into her life, and she taught us a lot over the last 20 years about managing bears and about bear behaviour, it was her gift that she gave us."

That familiarity with people may have contributed to her death.

After three weeks of conflict behaviour conservation officer Chris Doyle said there was little choice left but to destroy Jeanie. She was caught in a trap by the conservation office service, tranquilized and then killed with a gunshot. Her cub was sent to the Mountain View Wildlife Conservation centre in Langley for rehabilitation and will eventually be released back into the wild on Whistler Mountain.

"There was a recent and escalating conflict of a very serious nature," said Doyle. "Specifically, she was breaking into restaurants. She started in the Roundhouse Lodge, where she broke into the building and gained access to the kitchen, and while she was there she charged employees - and she charged employees outside the Roundhouse as well.

"She acted very aggressively to pedestrians outside the Longhorn, attempted to get into the gondola building, and we got a report that she broke into the GLC that we're looking into. She had broken into Milestones a few times in the last couple of weeks, and got into there and acted aggressively to people inside and outside the restaurant."

Doyle said that Jeanie had a long conflict history going back several years, but she also usually responded to non-lethal bear aversion tactics. She was also caught and relocated in her home range several times.

"We've focused on a non-lethal program to keep her out of conflict in the village area in the last few years, so a lot of resources have been spent dealing with this bear - and we certainly would have been willing to deal in that way again, but it reached the point where it was beyond the acceptable limits to protect public safety."

Doyle said she was in good shape, along with the cub, and appeared to be at a healthy weight despite the poor berry crop this year.

Doyle also worked with the Get Bear Smart Society to try and relocate Jeanie to a captive wildlife facility, but was unsuccessful - most shelters only accept cubs for temporary rehabilitation purposes, and not as permanent residents.

"We have a long history with Jeanie, but unfortunately we really didn't have any other choice at this point," said Doyle.

Dolson said Jeanie's death was preventable, and that it should be a rallying cry for the community to take more action to resolve human-bear conflicts

"I think now is a good time to ask ourselves if what we're doing is effective, for those who manage wildlife to re-evaluate their approach," she said. "The whole waste management situation has to be looked at and improved, especially for the municipality when people don't have vehicles (to take their waste to a waste transfer station). More people need to look at their properties to ensure there are no attractants for bears.

"Jeanie and her cub had been accessing garbage and other attractants at the same establishments on a continuing basis, so that should have been shut down. The waste should have been made inaccessible, and if that took a fine or a dangerous wildlife protection order to resolve that, that's what should have happened."

The Society has created a memorial fund in Jeanie's name that will go towards the society's programs to educate the public and reduce human-bear conflicts in Whistler, and plant natural food sources in appropriate locations.

For more, visit www.bearsmart.com.

Jeanie's Facebook page is "Friends of Jeanie the Bear."

 

Sidebar

• Jeanie is the 11th bear to be killed this year as a result of a conflict with humans.

• A minimum of 13 bears have been involved in motor vehicle accidents, nine of which have been fatal. Many are likely not reported.

• Some 13 bears have been trapped and relocated this year, 12 within their home range, with one long distance relocation.

• From April to September there were 695 calls regarding bears, 196 of which were answered by the conservation officer service.

• Non-lethal bear management tactics (sometimes referred to as "hazing") were used 36 times, and five dangerous wildlife protection orders were issued.

• Whistler bylaw has issued six tickets.