Irresponsible Feeding of Bears
Irresponsible & Reckless Feeding of Bears, Compromises Children’s Safety
Two large bags of sunflower seeds mixed with molasses and dumped fifty feet from the Nursery School couldn’t have been more reckless and irresponsible by the individual(s) who placed this “meal” for the bears in this area on/or about Monday May 17th .
Ministry of Natural Resources employees were dispatched to the Manitouwadge Nursery School in the afternoon, following a bear sighting report of a mother bear with cub, near the school, prior to the students leaving for the day and were shocked, very angry and disturbed to find such a dumping of food for the bears. In the photo shown of the bears, the sow (mother bear) is still on guard for her yearling (young cub) since being scared off by the MNR employee, who stands prepared with a firearm, should the sow become aggressive while the other MNR employee (shown in photo), cleans up the (2) heavy large garbage bags of sunflower seeds, mixed with molasses, dumped in the ditch. The dumping of this “bear meal” was a dangerous one and one that compromised the safety of the children here or anyone else who happened to leisurely walk by.
What is also more tragic about the feeding of bears here, is most often the bears which are fed here, ultimately end up dead, having to be shot due to the obvious safety concerns and the harm they could cause us, thus the saying “A fed bear could become a dead bear”.
The Township requests individual(s) to stop placing animal attractants out for wildlife and to not feed ANY wildlife at all, including foxes, wolves and even seagulls, who apparently, when gathered above for the presence of food, alert wildlife as to where food is. This week, the MNR here have received several reports of bears here, of bears getting access to garbage and the latest being a bear eating from bird feeder. The MNR says that birds can fend for themselves this time of year.
The Township encourages householders to regularly dispose of your household-wrapped/bagged kitchen waste only in the Bear Proof Dumpsters, identified with a bear stencil on the side of it and located in many areas of town.
If you know of any individual(s) who are dumping any food wastes or other garbage in and around Manitouwadge please call the Municipal Law Enforcement Office at 826-3227 Ext 244.
To report the dumping of and/or leaving waste/garbage behind on Crown lands, please call MNR TIPS Hotline # at 1-877 847-7667 or CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-800 222-8477.
