Many bear sightings appear to emerge, some closer than others

THUNDER BAY — Unusually warm weather and plentiful tree berries appear to have caused black bears to be tardy when it comes to retiring to their dens for the winter.

Some municipalities near Thunder Bay have seen many bruins, although there don't appear to have been close encounters with people.

"They've been pretty active at our (two) landfill sites this year, but I haven't heard much about them around people's homes," Neebing clerk-treasurer Erika Kromm said on Friday.

It's been a different story a bit further away in Terrace Bay, where an overabundance of bear sightings in residential areas prompted the Ministry of Natural Resources to issue an unusual cautionary bulletin this week.

"In the past eight days, there have been several bear sightings in the Lake Superior High School and (downtown) ski hill area, including sightings in the Hudson Drive and Southridge Crescent areas," the bulletin said.

"Of these reported incidents, all involved items such as garbage and/or natural attractants such as mountain ash berries," the bulletin said.

It added: "It's important to note that the same bear can result in multiple sightings."

Bear sightings, which don't necessarily constitute an emergency, can be reported to the province's reporting phone hotline at 1-866-514-2327 between March 1 and Nov. 30.

Though black bears can be considered a nuisance, they are still protected under provincial wildlife laws.

On Friday, the ministry said an Ottawa man was fined $5,500 and banned from hunting in the province for five years after he hunted black bear two years ago without a license, abandoned bear meat suitable for food and hunted within 400 metres of a landfill site.

According to a provincial investigation, Sherif Aboutabi was hunting a bear at a commercial camp in Kenora in August of 2022 when he committed a game tag violation and used meat from a first bear he shot to lure a second one.

"It was determined that Aboutabi hunted in a tree stand provided by Halley's Camps that was within 400 metres of a waste disposal site registered to the Halley's Camps corporation," a provincial news release said.

As part of the same case, Halley's Camps was fined $2,500, the news release said. A camp employee, Kenora resident Louis Halley, was fined $1,500 for abandoning black-bear flesh suitable for food, the news release said.

The cases were heard in Kenora court on Feb. 7 and July 3, the release said.

Suspected wildlife violations can be reported to a ministry phone tips line at 1-877-847-7667.

The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative