Professional guide and bear advocate Ellie Lamb has travelled to Texada Island in an effort to educate residents and preserve the island’s grizzly bear known as Tex.
The North Vancouver resident, in a telephone interview with the Peak on June 12, said this four-year-old bear is just doing normal bear things.
“The reason for being here is to reach out to the community of Texada,” said Lamb. “I come with a background in bear viewing, taking people from all over the world to see and experience grizzly bears in British Columbia. As well, I teach bear behaviour and communications, and I have been giving the course for several years.”
Lamb, who said she will soon be heading into bear country to do some guiding, went to Texada to get to know some of the challenges for both the bear and people who live on the island and care about the bear, and want to see it relocated to a place where it can thrive.
“Then, there are the people who are not happy with the bear and would sooner shoot the bear than live with it,” said Lamb.
She said she has spoken to a conservation officer to get some history about Tex. She has also spoken to community members about their experiences with the bear.
“He’s done zero wrong – nothing that is shocking or surprising,” said Lamb. “He has, from the first day, acted like a typical sub-adult.”
Lamb said the bear has been relocated twice to Jervis Inlet and has been pushed out of the area by more dominant adults. She said Tex keeps coming back to where he feels safe.
“In this case, he is young, and so he found safety in communities on the Sunshine Coast,” said Lamb. “He has really done nothing unusual or abnormal.”
Lamb said the problem for Tex is that the province has decided to put a kill order on this bear.
“This bear is supposed to be killed by the 小蓝视频 Conservation Service,” said Lamb. “Based on what? “Two conflicts and two unsuccessful relocations.”
Lamb said as a guide, Tex is the kind of bear she would like to guide around.
“If you just let bears be bears, they are very easy to live with,” said Lamb. “We have rules that we need to follow, such as taking care of garbage and keeping attractants managed. Bears are highly intelligent and their problem-solving ability is beyond what many people know. They are able to learn incredibly well.
“My pitch is people need to learn and I’m happy to help, and that’s one of the reasons for me being here is teaching how to coexist.”
Lamb said what is needed is to remove the bear from Texada before it is shot.
“What’s amazing is the whole world is watching this because these animals are species at risk,” said Lamb.
She said the province should take care of its species at risk, but they don’t when it comes to grizzly bears. She added that destroying the bear would be “an absolute abomination” to the respect that should be given for the lives of bears, and especially one that is really trying to get along.
Lamb said ideally, Tex would be trapped and transported to somewhere really wild. She said Mamalilikulla First Nation’s chief John Powell and that community is embracing the presence of the bear.
“If we could get this bear to their land near Knight Inlet, they have welcomed him to come and make that his home,” said Lamb. “It’s very much the kind of land for this bear to never come back to the area’s that he has known. He’d be able to live his life in that area. It’s a far cry better than having a bullet in his head.
“So, the world is looking. The First Nation wants the bear and they gave permission to bring him there. The funding is available from many organizations from around the world and they are willing to pay for the whole thing. So that is where we are at. There are some very good people who are trying very hard to relocate the bear.”
Lamb said during her time on Texada, she was meeting with a politician and there were some other people who she was meeting with.
“I’ve co-existed with bears for years and I’ve shown many people from all over the world the 35 females that come into the Bella Coola valley,” said Lamb. “I’ve given those people a sense of history because I know these bears, and bears actually get to know individuals such as myself. They are amazing at recognition and they never forget when they meet somebody.”
Lamb said she has been guiding for almost 30 years, in Bella Coola, Atlin and in the Kootenays.
“Bears have been my life,” said Lamb. “It’s a privilege, because they are really amazing.
“I’m here [on Texada] on my own coin because it actually matters to me to help people understand and to live around these animals – at least as long as it takes to get this bear to a safe location.”
Rock Island Farm owner Katrin Glenn-Bittner in late May, due to a footprint she found. qathet Regional District Area D (Texada) director Sandy McCormick while she was gardening in her yard.
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