Scott Hayes | [email protected]
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
An individual paid a steep price for carelessly throwing objects at a grizzly sow and her two cubs.
The person went to court on Aug. 10, faced with charges of violating the Canada National Parks Act.聽
The person was found guilty and fined $1,500. The incident occurred along Maligne Road on June 15.聽
"To the best of my understanding, this wasn't a wildlife feeding incident so much as an individual that was so determined to try to get the best picture of a bear that they felt it appropriate to just throw wood at the bear to make it pick up his head or whatever it was they were after to improve their photographic opportunity," said Dave Argument, resource conservation manager in Jasper National Park.
Jasper Dispatch received the report from the public and a Parks Canada Law Enforcement warden responded quickly to the area. The individual was identified with help from the reporting witness.
Section 4 (1) (f) of the Canada National Parks Act reads that no person shall "entice wildlife that is in a park to approach by holding out or setting out decoys or any such devices, foodstuffs or bait of any kind." It is illegal to touch or feed wildlife as well.
"We're obligated when visiting this special place to respect the natural inhabitants, let them go about their life," Argument said. "There's some wonderful opportunities here . . . to see wildlife in their natural environment and to enjoy the beauty of this place that don't involve disturbing or harassing wildlife in this way. That's absolutely inappropriate behaviour on every count."
Violators may be charged, be required to appear in court, and could be required to pay fines of amounts up to $25,000.
Argument said that this was an isolated incident and those bears did not become problematic in Jasper National Park.聽
To report offenses, call Parks Canada Dispatch at 1-877-852-3100 or 780-852-6155 locally.
"We do really encourage people to report when they do see inappropriate behaviour around wildlife to help us manage these sorts of situations," Argument said.
He added that Parks Canada believes that the number of wildlife feeding incidents has increased over recent years.
Editor's note: The original story used a photo that was unrelated to the story. We apologize to the owners of the photo, who did not give permission for its use with this story.
