Grouse Mountain Bears!

[The Hermit]

My daughter was up the top of Grouse today and took these pics... she was only 10' from them at one point! :eek:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/btozer/grousebear/IMG_0340.JPG

http://www.members.shaw.ca/btozer/grousebear/IMG_0341.JPG

http://www.members.shaw.ca/btozer/grousebear/IMG_0342.JPG

http://www.members.shaw.ca/btozer/grousebear/IMG_0343.JPG

[rifleman]

wow beautiful bears!!!! cant't eat them, but they can eat you

[Bow Walker]

It'd be quite the thrill to be so close to a grizz, electric fence or not! One of the few species that will sniff you out, hunt you down, kill you, and eat you.

If I understand it right - they 'rehabilitate' them up there and then release them into the wild?

If so, then what a way to acclimatize them to humans. It's like the zoo. Do they even stand a chance back in the wild?

[The Hermit]

They sure look healthy enough to me... wonder why they haven't been flown out to Bella Bella or Port Hardy? ;-)

[Paulyman]

What region is that? do they have an leh in that area ;)

[pupper]

Yah thats awesome. You will probably laugh or not believe me when I tell you this, but its true. I proposed to my wife right there in front of the bears and she said YES!

[city hunter]

OH.....Those are my bears which I caught and hand them over to people working up there for the purpose of viewing.

[CabinFever]

Next trip down to the coast I think I may have to check this out. thanks for the pix!

[MB_Boy]

They are pretty cool....I took my 5 yr old niece from Wpg up there to see them last fall. One is a Coastal Grizz named "Coola" (I think) and the other is an interior Grizz if I recall correctly....I think it was named "Salmon Arm" (kidding!). Although they are in captivity they are pretty cool to see up that close. :cool:

[leadpillproductions]

Thats pretty cool hope there's no hole in the fence lol.

[sawmill]

Yep, it`s great to see them in their natural habitat........electric fences and track hoes.
That`s the reason we won`t get to hunt bears very much longer.

PEANUTS ! POPCORN ! Take a picture!

[bensonvalley]

I'm not a huge fan of zoos but I have to admit the kids love going up to see Boo the griz at Kicking Horse. The refuge they've provided is about as good as one could hope for a fenced area.

[Steeleco]

We did the field trip my son and I last year, it was pretty cool to see them up close. Did you see the raptors?? That was cool too.

[Summit 512]

Thanks for sharing them pictures Hermit. It looks like a good place to look at bears. How much dose it cost to go in there and look?

[SHACK]

Its Coola and Grinder on Grouse Mt. and Just Boo lives up at Kickinghorse now as Cari passed on from a gastric torsion during hibernation. My wife used to do alot of work with the bears on Grouse and Shadow at the Vancouver game farm. I guess I am one of the lucky ones who has gotten to hold little grizzly cubs, feed them by hand, and babysit them when they were about as big as a basketball.
The bears they have on Grouse/kickinghorse will never be let back into the wild. From day one they had already received too much human contact to make it viable. These bears however have become to poster children for rehab. By this I mean that a few smart people(Namely Dr. Ken Mcquisten) wanted to see is a simple and inexpensive enclosure could be used to contain grizzlies in remote areas for rehab away from humans, with large tracks of land made usable for a less "caged in" approach to housing these bears. Although a 3 wire electric fence may sound a rather simple idea, no one had tried it before, and many scoffed that it would not contain the bears. Fortunately it does, its completely inexpensive by comparison to other containment systems, can be set up in some of the most remote areas of the country for minimal costs, not to mention you can make large enclosures so you can limit human contact to nearly zero for feeding/rehab purposes. My wife spent countless hours watching and recording the bears response to the fences, and they learn FAST, if memory serves me correct Shadow only touched the fence 3 or 4 times and never tested it again! Ill try to load up some cool pics we have a little later.
Definitely should not be scoffing at these guys, they are working hard to try and create a usable model for bear rehab. Yes, some of you may say put em out of their misery, but think about the amount of cubs and others that could be released back into the wild, and those numbers work in our favour as well!!!! There in the past has never been any government aproval of any sort for grizzly rehab, and now because of these bears and the studys done on themit looks like they have already or are very close to getting government aproval for a recognized grizzly rehab. Also, lets not forget, these bears were to be destroyed, and this was thier ONLY option.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I'm all for something like this but only as long as the bears are not exposed to people.

The Grouse set-up is no more than a glorified zoo.....and I believe furthers enthrenches dangerous ideas into young minds from urban areas.

Cut that fence open and let's see how quickly mindsets can change.

SSS

[SHACK]

SSS, I understand your pov, and I for one am not for zoo's either, but these bears, have created the funding needed to further the work I mentioned above. One of those "for the greater good" scenario's
Horrible, but the truth is, without these bears in that "glorified zoo" they would have been destroyed, no funding would have been put into the project, and future grizzly rehab may have been put on the afterburner.

Top
Heres a pic of Carri and Boo when they were just youngings up on grouse(Boo is facing on the right, and its Carri's but pressed against the stick.
Bottom is my wife with Shadow (the first bear put to the eclosure tests)getting a little dandylion feed.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304/sachaszymczak/bears.jpg

[SHACK]

Heres one more of Cari and Boo when they were "knee high to a grasshopper"

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304/sachaszymczak/CariBooonGrouse.jpg

[deer nut]

The bears they have on Grouse/kickinghorse will never be let back into the wild. From day one they had already received too much human contact to make it viable. These bears however have become to poster children for rehab. By this I mean that a few smart people(Namely Dr. Ken Mcquisten) wanted to see is a simple and inexpensive enclosure could be used to contain grizzlies in remote areas for rehab away from humans, with large tracks of land made usable for a less "caged in" approach to housing these bears.

Raising them in pens, conditioning them to humans and having them live out their days in a de facto zoo is not "rehab"!!

[SHACK]

Raising them in pens, conditioning them to humans and having them live out their days in a de facto zoo is not "rehab"!!


Wow, I thought I was clear when I said these bears had already had to much human contact, and would NEVER be released into the wild. Make NO mistake about it, these bears will live out the rest of thier lives in an enclosure. If you would read through what I was writing, you would see that these bears currently on Grouse and Kickinghorse were plain and simply a model for what can be done to rehab OTHER bears in the future, NOTHING to do with Coola, Grinder, or Boo ever getting released.
I apologise if I could not articulate it well enough, but the fact is, the funding, and knowledge gained by these bears living in this situation, will, without question, in the near future, help other orphaned and injured bears to be rehabed with absolutely minimal human contact instead of being destroyed. This is without a question of a doubt, very favourable for all parties, HUNTERS included......as the number of grizzlies that need to be destroyed for various reasons goes down, our fight to remain in a possition for allowable harvest gets a stronger foothold. Its about thinking beond what you see now, and working for a future outcome that can favour us and the bears.

Dont kid yourself, I hunt, fish, and have no problems with bears being shot, hell I have killed LOTS of bears. I however can see past the fact that these bears are in a zoo, for human "visual consumption" on Grouse, for what they have let these people achieve in regards to bear rehab in the wild.

[GoatGuy]

I'm glad we have ZERO money for wildlife inventory but the Minister of Environment was able to throw $400,000 at this garbage. What a waste.

Dr.Mcquisten and that facility ain't supported by bear biologists - a zoo shouldn't be allowed to try to rehab bears. Notice non of the other rehab centers got a handout - course none of them are zoos either.
What a joke.

[elkdom]

Those GBears are doomed to life forever in a ZOO ,or eventual destruction,

Habituating GBEARS with PEOPLE, what a bunch of MORONS!

Habituating People with GBEARS, more STUPIDITY!

ALL in ALL , a BAD policy, sooner or later ending in tragedy for someone or for the bears!

Sadly wasted money, sadly wasted bears,,,

[ferndogger]

SHACK, I read your post and I found it very informative. I understand your pov and agree with where you are coming from. Thanks for the post.

[Timbow]

Wow, truely amazing and very interesting. Thanks for the pictures to view. I will have to take the kids to view them next time in the Lower Mainland.

Reading some of the comments, seems like there is quite a bit of controversy over these bears. IMO, isn't ignorance bliss.

[sawmill]

I'm glad we have ZERO money for wildlife inventory but the Minister of Environment was able to throw $400,000 at this garbage. What a waste.

Dr.Mcquisten and that facility ain't supported by bear biologists - a zoo shouldn't be allowed to try to rehab bears. Notice non of the other rehab centers got a handout - course none of them are zoos either.
What a joke.
100% there!A waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere.It is a f%cking circus side show.Kinda like Dolphins in the West Edmonton Mall.

[sawmill]

Wow, truely amazing and very interesting.

Reading some of the comments, seems like there is quite a bit of controversy over these bears. IMO, isn't ignorance bliss.
Not quite sure what you mean ,are you ignorant?Or are you implying that guys who have lived and hunted in this country all their lives are?

[Timbow]

Not quite sure what you mean ,are you ignorant?Or are you implying that guys who have lived and hunted in this country all their lives are?

It was aimed at myself....

[444marlin]

Saw the bears last year. According to the interpreter, they will not be released back to the wild.

[sawmill]

It was aimed at myself....
Sorry:oops:
It`s such a hot button issue,

[Bow Walker]

Yah thats awesome. You will probably laugh or not believe me when I tell you this, but its true. I proposed to my wife right there in front of the bears and she said YES!
pupper - you hound dog, you! ;)



Thats pretty cool hope there's no hole in the fence lol.
If they get hungry/frustrated/pissed-off enough that "electric fence" had better be carrying one hellova jolt!:eek: