According to a recent article in Rocky Mountain Outlook, there are reports of 5 tourists allegedly feeding bears in the Canadian Rockies.
The Rocky Mountain Outlook says that the fine is $2,000 to $5,000 for feeding wildlife in the park.
The investigation into the incidents is still in progress and charges have not yet been filed, but I personally think it would be good to send a message.
Seriously, what are these tourists thinking?
Do they really need to be told that feeding bears is a bad thing? That fed bears will be habituated to humans?
And that a fed bear’s likelihood of survival drops?
Every time something like this happens, park conservation officers have to intervene.
They’ll try to re-condition the fed bear.
They’ll use pain deterrents (shooting sandbags and rubber bullets) and noise deterrents to try to train the bear to associate bad things with humans.
If the re-conditioning doesn’t work, the situation for the bear is much sadder.
The lesson: “Do not feed the wildlife. It is more harm than good.”
If you see someone feeding the wildlife, report them to park authorities. Write down the license plate, time and location. And if you have a camera in hand, I’d assume a picture would help identify the bear.
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