The head of a national agency that protects fur-bearing animals is calling on either the BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) or BC Parks staff to fine campers whose unattended food attracted the attention of a black bear in Golden Ears Provincial Park.
On Friday, May 30, Pamela Rubio, who was camping at the Alouette North campgrounds, filmed a black bear rummaging through food left unattended at an empty campsite in Golden Ears Provincial Park. This happened despite signage warning campers not to leave food unattended, that she said was posted everywhere in the park.
"This is an offence," said Lesley Fox, executive director of The Fur-Bearers, a national agency whose mission is to protect fur-bearing animals in the wild and confinement through advocacy, research, and education.
"It's not a they shouldn't have done that, uh-oh. This is a straight-up offence under the Wildlife Act," said Fox, who noted fines are publicly posted, Golden Ears is a provincial park, and it isn't news to anybody that bears live there.
Every year, she said, there are situations much like what happened in Golden Ears park, which leads to the killing hundreds of black bears by conservation officers.
According to government statistics, BC conservation officers killed 303 bears across the province in 2024, including two in Maple Ridge.
Fox's concern is that often times when these situations occur, the focus is on the bear.
"But the bear is not the criminal," she said. "An offence was committed and it's not the bear."
In this situation, she said, the campers should receive a ticket, since, presumably they registered for their campsite so their identity is not unknown.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Parks, fines under the Wildlife Act include $460 for attracting dangerous wildlife, and $575 for feeding dangerous wildlife.
However, ministry spokesperson David Karn pointed out, penalties can range up to $100,000.
"If a dead bear is going to be the result of this action, somebody needs to be charged," said Fox.
The ministry reported the bear has not yet been captured and remains active in the park.
"Trapping efforts are continuing at this time," said Karn, who noted that the park remains open, and although the ministry previously stated there would be campground closures, no closures are taking place.
No penalties have been handed out regarding the video incident, he said.
Sarah Beattie, who was camping recently at Golden Ears Provincial Park, posted on June 29, that they were told there were three to four black bears that have been seen around campsites.
Park users, she said, were given a piece of paper warning them to be bear aware, and advising them to keep all attractants securely stored in a vehicle or trailer unless they are actively cooking or eating.
"This is your only warning," read the notice, saying that failure to adhere to the rules will result in "immediate" eviction from the park.
Beattie said her family had only been at the park a few hours on Thursday, June 26, when a bear wandered onto their campsite while her children were at the table.
She said the bear was about eight feet behind her daughter.
"My kids were calm and quietly walked to the trailer. The bear leaned on the table, no food for him (wasn't interested in the kids sketchbooks) and then left," she said, noting the bear went through the next few sites as well.
They reported the bear to park rangers.
Another bear was spotted by the family the following evening at North Beach.
Beattie said park rangers were doing rounds more often throughout the day, than she recalled from past experiences.
Karn noted that BC Parks and the park operator will continue to patrol and educate campers to manage attractants.
"BC Parks continues to work in partnership with the Conservation Officer Service to manage the dynamic situation with the food-conditioned bear in Golden Ears," he said on behalf of the ministry, noting that both agencies can issue tickets under the Wildlife Act.
Fox would like to see more aggressive action taken to send a message to campers, especially going into the summer, that leaving food unattended or other behaviour resulting in the attraction of bears or other wild animals, will not be tolerated.
"Unless we're willing to enforce the legislation, bears are going to routinely be killed, we've seen that year after year," she said.
