By Nicole Fitzgerald, Pique Newsmagazine, August 17, 2006

For the first time in Whistler’s history, a human was injured after encountering a black bear.

At approximately 3 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 13, a 24-year-old male encountered a black bear trapped in the entranceway of a rented home located on Archibald Way in Alta Vista.

Attractants played a role in the situation with a report of five large green garbage bags and three small grocery store bags of household waste stored in a room off the entranceway.

The encounter resulted in the local bartender garnering 27 stitches across his neck and making a plea for Whistler to implement a more easily accessible waste system.

Whistler has only two waste stations: one in Function Junction, the other in Nesters. People must walk, bus or drive to the sites to dispose their garbage.

“It was really sad this had to happen, but the bear was obviously just trapped and freaked out and was trying to get out,” said one of the five residents at the Archibald Way house. “The conservation officer said that (my friend) was lucky to be alive. The bear was centimetres away from hitting a main artery.”

Although concerned about the well being of his friend, the resident doesn’t begrudge the bear, only the situation.

“Whistler needs a better waste system,” he said. “You’ve got to have a car to get rid of garbage. They need something where people can walk down the road and get rid of it, close like at the post boxes or something.”

The resident, who didn’t want to be identified, walked a Pique reporter through how the situation unfolded.

According to the resident, a “large” bear entered the front door of the house. The door was unlocked. The animal entered a roughly 4X12-foot entranceway with three other doors off of it. One of the doors led to a storage room where two bags of garbage were stored. On entering, the front door closed behind the bear. The animal was trapped with no way out.

The resident walked through the hallway noting the torn door trim around the front door’s frame and a muddy, smeared paw print with claw marks on the adjacent wall.

He went on to explain how a fellow roommate realized what was happening on the night and ran out the back door and around the house to open the front door and let the trapped bear out – but unfortunately not soon enough.

In the meantime, a visiting friend opened the door opposite the front door.

“They were struggling with the door,” the resident explained of the bear and friend, noting the claw marks etched into the door. “That’s when it happened.”

The man was struck across the face and neck area once. By this time, the roommate had opened the front door and the bear turned around and fled.

The bartender was brought to the Whistler Health Care Centre for treatment and the conservation office contacted.

Bear home break-ins are on the rise in Whistler. Already this season, the conservation office has received 800 calls; 238 of the calls occurred just this month. Whistler’s biggest previous call log was in 2004 with 472 calls to the same date.

Sylvia Dolson of the Get Bear Smart Society noted increased calls are due to increased bear activity as well as reports about collared bears connected to the aversive conditioning study.

This year the conservation office reported 63 house break ins with bears entering or attempting entry into homes. As a result, four bears were destroyed between June and August this year.

Dolson says two key factors are contributing to increased house break ins, including low natural food availability and mismanaged attractants.

The Archibald Way resident said bears have visited the house before. He showed claw marks where bears climbed up a tree to the house’s second-floor porch.

He said the house stores garbage in the shed room inside the house because none of the housemates have cars. The group relies on an outside friend with a car who transports the household’s waste to a waste station.

Dolson is pushing ahead with her suggestion to implement a waste system modeled after the one set up in Canmore, Alberta where for every 10 homes, there is a waste station set up within walking distance.

“This incident highlights the need for Whistler to address its waste management for those who don’t have easy access to compactor sites,” Dolson said.

In the meantime, residents are asked to regularly dispose of their garbage in bear-proof bins, not letting odours accumulate. Conservation officers are also recommending people keep windows and doors locked, especially at night. If people have a bear in their house, they are asked to call for help right away rather than dealing with the problem themselves.

To report a bear incident, call 1-877-952-7277.

Home-invading bear injures resident

Man treated for cuts to face; another animal destroyed

By David Burke, Whistler Question, August 17, 2006

In what’s believed to be the first-ever human injury inflicted by a bear in Whistler, an Alta Vista resident this week suffered cuts to his face as a result of an encounter with a black bear that had entered his home.

The incident occurred on Sunday (Aug. 13) at about 3 a.m. after a bear entered the home in search of food, Chris Doyle of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said on Monday.

After the bear entered, the door closed behind it, leaving the animal with no obvious means of escape, Doyle said. When a male occupant of the home came upon it, the bear attacked, he said.

The resident, who was not identified, was treated for his injuries at Whistler Health Care Centre and released.

Sunday’s incident is just the latest in a rash of home invasions by bears in Whistler this year, but this is the first one resulting in injuries to a person.

“I don’t think we’ve every had a personal injury (inflicted by a bear) reported in Whistler,” Doyle said. “We don’t know the history of this bear. A trap has been set in the area.” Doyle said officials believe the increasing habituation of the area’s bear population to human presence is largely responsible for the increase in the number of home invasions this year. He urged residents to keep their doors and windows closed, particularly at night and when homes are left unattended.

“Obviously a lot of (the increase in home invasions) has to do with the level of habituation,” Doyle said. “They get food in the community and they get very used to being around people. When there’s so much garbage around, it brings them into conflict, and now they are entering homes so people should be sure to keep their doors and windows secured, particularly at night.” He said that as the lead agency, the Conservation Officer Service is investigating the incident.

In the meantime, officials last Thursday (Aug.10) destroyed a large female bear believed responsible for several home break-ins in the Spring Creek area. It was the fifth bear killed by Conservation Officers in Whistler this year, and the fourth believed to have broken into homes.

The bear, which recently broken into the same Spring Creek home for the second time, was trapped near the home and later destroyed, Doyle said. It is believed to have

been responsible for other home break-ins in Spring Creek, Khyber Lane and Brandywine Way, he said.

“The reason we destroyed it is it had begun to enter homes and had become a public safety risk - as demonstrated by the incident on Sunday morning,” Doyle said.

Last week, Conservation Officer Rob Groeger said officials were aware of at least five different bears in the Spring Creek area. However, Doyle said that because of earlier descriptions from the public, officials are confident that the bear they trapped and killed is the one responsible for the home invasions.

“It had the ear tag and was caught right in front of the residence it had been breaking into,” he said. “We’re certain that it was the right offending animal because there have been no further occurrences in that area.” Residents are reminded to keep all bear attractants secured indoors and to be diligent about reporting sightings and other bear.related incidents by calling (604) 90S-BEAR (2327) or 1-877-952-7277.