Bear killed in Muskoka

What a surprise to see
a bear in our backyard! (2013)

We had a bear in our yard: What a surprise to see a bear in the backyard! (April, 2013)
We ignored him, and he ignored us. I saw another last Spring, he just moved along snuffing around for food.

Our neighbour had a bear steal a bag of bird seed from out of the back of his truck not long ago! They move one. 

He was walking past the Bear Crossing sign! (2013)

This ignorant man (65-year-old John Marks) shot the bear on his front lawn, in Bracebridge, Muskoka Region, Central Ontario. This is a residential area. It was on November 1st, 2015. There is lots of press about it, with many upset townsfolk.

Google has some fine photos.

I've been there. On the other side of the trees is the parking lot for FYCSM, Children's Aid Muskoka.
It is a terrible saga. The cubs crying, nuzzling their dead mother's body. They thought one cub was wounded, as it sat stuck in a tree.

The police arrived, and they found him with a high-powered rifle, and a dead bear, her two cubs were up a tree. They were taken tcare of by Bear With Us, Bear Sanctuary.

He's been charged with careless use of a firearm, unlawfully discharging a firearm without due care and attention for people of property, shooting across a road, hunting without a licence.

1 Pinewood, Gravenhurst

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MOTHER BEAR FATALLY SHOT | by Mary Beth Hartill
...mother bear and her cubs had been spotted feeding in the Bracebridge area on various things, including crabapples from area trees, by several residents over the past few weeks.

  JANUARY 27, 2016

Accused bear killer facing four new charges in Bracebridge

Matthew Sitler / 

On the garage is a sign 

A Bracebridge man accused of killing a black bear by shooting it on his front lawn is facing four new charges. The new charges have been laid by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

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This is a Facebook message from Bear With Us:

Bear With Us Sanctuary and Rehabilitation Centre for Bears

Like This Page · 5 November 2015 

Firefighters, volunteers, Bear With Us peeps,
as well as much equipment was involved.

Bracebridge Bear Cubs - Update. This past Sunday evening a female bear was shot for no reason by an inconsiderate man with a gun. This person bragged to police about killing one of the bear's three cubs. The bear was shot in a residential area putting other residents at risk from flying bullets. This was an experienced and mature mother bear. Her cubs are large for their age. 

Our primary concern is to catch the cub that was injured(possibly) by the shooter with the gun. We would suspect the mother bear may have already picked out a den for her family before she died. Her large healthy cubs are not in any immediate danger except for humans. The young bears are not a danger to anyone. They are most likely terrified and bewildered orphans. We would like to know the whereabouts of the cubs especially the presumed injured cub (pictured). We do not want to catch the healthy cubs, break up the family and further jeopardize the injured cub. The cubs have moved away from the area their mother was killed. 

cast of thousands...

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (Bracebridge) personnel are very interested in seeing a positive outcome for the little bears. The MNRF and the Police are doing what they can to make sure justice is served. The family of bears had wandered through parts of town without causing a disturbance, their only sin (not really) was eating apples from local trees. It is a shame an obviously good mother bear had to have her life ended in such a cold and thoughtless manner. The bears should have been left alone with no interference from people because they had not caused any reason for concern to justify human interference. 

  Bear With Us Update Dec.18 2015 from Bear With Us for Bears-Vimeo on Vimeo.

Wolves escape Haliburton wildlife reserve through vandalism

What a horrible thing to do. You'd like to think that it is ignorance, rather than something stupid like pure vandalism, but I wonder. Stupidity is the active pursuit of ignorance. What are people thinking? There are reasons why the wolves are there, they cannot exist in the wild.

The Wolf Reserve owner writes about this Criminal Wolf Pack release. Criminal, indeed. It is a well-orchestrated event, with vandals opening both the inside and the outside enclosures, cutting holes for the wolves to escape in a place where staff couldn't observe the actions.

Two Arctic Wolves – sisters – needed to be to be
taken in by Aspen Valley from another centre
facing bankruptcy
- or they would be euthanized. 

The reserve’s owner, Peter Schleifenbaum, believes the vandals are animal rights activists or “individuals with a similar zeal to ‘liberate’ captive animals.”

It could well be true. But such stupidity. I visited Aspen Valley Wildlife Reserve last year. I learned a lot. All of the animals were born in captivity, and needed to live in captivity. Some were abused, others couldn't be cared for or released into the wild.

Zoe Coyote at Aspen Valley

These wolves at the Haliburton Reserve (see their photos), for example, are fed dead carcasses. It takes skill to track, hunt, and take down a 150 lb. deer. They don't have these skills. We have a neighbourhood wolf that dragged off roadkill into the forest. I imagine if it were easier to take down a deer, it wouldn't have chosen a three-day-old carcass.

A hunter, who had been using Mama bear
 to train dogs how to attack bears,
had her front claws and eyeteeth removed
so she was unable to defend herself.

These things almost always end badly. One of Haliburton Forest's staff noticed a bloody dragmark down the hill, about 200 meters north of the Wolf Centre. They found a cartridge and hair, and they believe that sometime that day Haida, the alpha male of the pack, was shot, killed, and taken away by a motorist. How shameful. Schliefenbaum, and his staff, is trying desperately to get the animals back into the enclosure. It's not easy.
The history of this wolf pack is interesting. Almost always there is a story. No one want to keep these wild animals if they have any understanding or concern for them. They are wild animals. Aspen Valley's critters all have horribly sad stories, and they reintroduce them to the wild, when possible. These licenced facilities exist on donations. They don't do this for fun, but out of a love of animals.

Another sanctuary: Bear With Us Sanctuary and Rehabilitation Centre for Bears

See www.bearwithus.org

Awareness and Understanding can save the life of a bear. This page is for educational use. Allowing people the opportunity to "Understand Bears." https://www.facebook.com/Understanding.Bears .

Eurasian Lynx, Banshee, used in a movie,
no longer needed, her new owner couldn't care for her,
they were going to put her down.
Aspen Valley took her in.

This isn't the only time people have done this. I wrote in November, 2008, about Fallow Deer Reserve, near Kingston. They had someone vandalize their fence and shoo their 13 rescued deer outside of the pen. A damn shame during hunting season, especially. Their stories are told here:

• In memory of Ty
• Dandy, born 2000 - died November 23, 2008
• EGee eases back!
• Moki's love story
• Ty, born 2002? - died Nov. 10, 2008
• Gulliver is back home!
• George returns home! This one's for Tasha & Kelly

SAINTS is an end-of-life B.C. sanctuary for senior and special needs animals that have nowhere else to go.

SAINTS 2012 720

www.youtube.com

www.saintsrescue.ca MISSION STATEMENT We are an end-of-life sanctuary for senior and special needs animals that have nowhere else