Boo the grizzly gone wild gives researchers slip
 
 
Ian Bailey, The Province
Published: Thursday, June 15, 2006

Boo the grizzly has given searchers the slip.

An official with the Kicking Horse Mountain Grizzly Bear Refuge said yesterday they’re trying to sort out Boo from a crowd of other bears they are finding.

“We’re spotting bears every day. They’re just not Boo,” said Michael Dalzell.

Dalzell said Boo has not been seen since Saturday. The four-year-old bear was raised in captivity since his mother was shot by a hunter in 2002 when he was a cub.

He dug under an electrified fence last Monday to escape his nine-hectare enclosure after he caught scent of a passing wild female bear.

His guardians are intent on recapturing and neutering him so he won’t react to females the same way in future.

RCMP Sgt Marko Shehovac of the Golden detachment said Boo would have to be put down if he wandered near a community because he has no fear of people and would gladly wander over to them.

Some environmentalists said yesterday that Boo should just be left alone.

“Don’t put him back in the [damn] pen,” said Joe Foy, campaign director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.

ibailey@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2006