THUNDER BAY – John Bakich came nearly face-to-face with a black bear in his Northwood driveway last September.
But rather than that being a one-time sighting, bear encounters have been becoming common over the past nine months for residents in the Parkway Drive area of Northwood.
The neighbourhood residents first turned to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to try to have the bear relocated but were told the responsibility fell to city police. They then contacted the Thunder Bay Police Service but were told police could only shoot the bear if it posed an immediate threat.
Bakich on Monday night went before Thunder Bay city council, urging them to support a resolution from Coun. Shelby Ch’ng to call on the province to act.
“It’s my opinion the bear isn’t just passing through our neighbourhood. It’s been there for at least nine months and it has made our neighbourhood its home,” Bakich said.
“I’m fearful it’s only time before there’s a violent interaction between this bear and someone in my neighbourhood. There’s a walking path in my neighbourhood that runs along the Neebing River and connects Northwood to the Parkdale area. This path is within metres of an area the bear most likely now considers to be his or her home and is used every day by people walking their dogs, parents with strollers, people out for a walk or bike ride.”
Bakich said neighbours have reported bear sightings of different sizes, raising the potential of either multiple bears moving into the area or the original one having at least one cub.
The bear has been spotted in the field behind St. Francis School and one neighbour found its den along the banks of the Neebing River, he added.
“I think I can speak on behalf of my neighbours in saying this process has been frustrating,” Bakich said. “When a guy in a canoe can find the bear in its den within minutes, it’s hard for me to understand how a potentially dangerous wild animal could have been allowed to remain in a residential area for this long when the (ministry) has been aware of its almost exact location for months.”
Ch’ng had brought forward a resolution to have the city’s intergovernmental committee lobby the province to have the ministry take up the case.
“It’s been extremely frustrating calling the Bear Wise line,” Ch’ng said. “We need to have this taken care of. It’s in a highly populated area that people walk, children play.”
Bakich said multiple neighbours have stories of the bear coming into their yards and driveways. One woman was standing behind a glass door when the bear marched undeterred up her deck in search of food. One man was working underneath his car when his wife saw the bear on the other side of the car.
Ch’ng said she has received a significant number of calls and emails from area residents about bear sightings, particularly within the last few months.
“Now that warmer weather is here we should be able to send our kids outside, go for a walk around the block or simply exit our backdoors without having to worry about possibly running into a bear,” Bakich said.
“I wouldn’t be as concerned if the bear was always seen near its den by the river but this bear has repeatedly wandered into people’s driveways and backyards which suggests to me that it’s not as afraid of humans as it should be and that it cannot find enough food to sustain itself without needing to visit our yards.”
Mayor Keith Hobbs, a retired city police officer, said there were times during his career that he had to shoot bears.
“I think the (ministry) has abdicated their role and that’s because of provincial funding cuts,” Hobbs said. “We need to get them to do their job and start looking after the wildlife issues in our city and in the north.”
