Conservation officers on the hunt for a bear that charged into two people in the heart of Port Moody are warning residents to stay clear after someone allegedly tampered with a live bear trap.
Following two encounters with a “large male bear” both along the trail between Port Moody rec centre and the Noons Creek Hatchery, conservation officers were dispatched to capture the animal.
But when they went to set up a live bear trap at the trail head near the rec centre, they returned Thursday morning to find that someone had removed the bait and shut the gate of the trap — something only a human could do, according to BC Conservation Officer Sgt. Todd Hunter, who is leading the effort to capture the animal.
“Someone tampered with it. We don’t have any information on who,” said Hunter, adding, “It is an offence to tamper with a trap. There could be fines associated with it, or if serious in nature, court action could be taken, with up to $10,000 [in fines] for the first offence.”
More importantly, he said, “When people do that, they jeopardize peoples’ safety.”
The effort to capture the bear began after some people along the trail leading to the Noons Creek Hatchery saw a bear charge at a woman, allegedly plowing into her.
“There was no real provocation for the alleged attack. The bear just ran out of the bush towards the woman,” said Hunter.
Conservation officers said they had not yet spoken to the woman to confirm the account, but in a second incident around the same time Tuesday, a bear believed to be the same animal came out of the bush and charged at a group of people only 100 metres away from the first encounter.
In interviews with staff at the nearby rec centre and hatchery, conservation officers said they have determined that the bear has been around the area for at least a month, attracted by the natural bounty of food in the estuary. They have found no human attractants in the area.
Conservation officers continue to search for the bear, and though they don’t expect it to be active during the day — the hot weather usually means it will be in its day bed — they have cordoned off the trails in the wooded area near the rec centre, specifically fanning out from the junction from Shoreline Trail, northbound to the parking lot.
“We’re not concerned right at the Shoreline Trail, it’s long and straight, there’s a lot of people along it,” said Hunter, adding that “People are pretty safe in the parking lot.”
But the forest is a different story, he said.
“Don’t walk [or jog] in wooded areas, in particular, with ear buds in your ears,” he said. “[It] could be an issue. You can’t really hear animals and people approaching.”
If you do come across a bear, Hunter recommends making yourself as big as possible and shout at the animal in a deep resonating voice to deter its approach.
Still, with this bear, Hunter said, people don’t appear to have done much wrong.
“People are coming within feet of it,” he said. “That’s not normal.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported that the two incidents happened Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon. Conservation officers have revised the timeline, pushing it back to Monday and Tuesday evenings at dusk.
