When the squad of Royal Canadian Mounted Police descended on the illegal marijuana grow-op in the wilderness of British Columbia, they were well aware of the potential dangers they could meet. Heavily armed grow operators. Deadly booby-traps. Solar powered electric fences. The presence of "pot pirates" raiding the illegal plants in what the police call "grow rips."
But -- they were not expecting BEARS!
Fourteen black bears were apparently patroling and guarding the grow-op field of thousands of pot plants in the Christina Lake area of British Columbia.
RCMP Photo"In thirty years working in these mountains, I've seen a lot of bears. But I've never seen that. There were big bears, little bears, groups of bears," said Sergeant Fred Mansveld of the Nelson Detachment of the RCMP. "It just goes to show you what length people will go in this business to secure their operation."
Sgt. Mansveld didn't believe that the bears were there to deter the Mounties, but to protect the illegal plants from pot bandits.
Feeding stations had been set up to feed dog food to the bears, perhaps mixed with a little marijuana. "Maybe they mixed some pot into the food. It's possible it's why they were so laid-back. They were just lolligagging around," the Mountie said, saying that the bears had even formed friendships with a racoon and pot bellied pig on the grow-op site.
BBC News quoted Sergeant Mansveld as saying, "They were tame, they just sat around watching. At one point one of the bears climbed onto the hood of a police car, sat there for a bit and then jumped off." BBC News then concluded, "In Canada, feeding bears is illegal as it leads to bears associating food with humans and increases the likelihood of bears coming into towns and cities to look for food." BBC News was just one of many international news agencies reporting the story. The UK Telegraph reported "Cannabis Growers Use Bears As Guards" and "Wild Dopey Bears Found in Drugs Raid!" The NY Daily News reported "Canada Cops Encounter Bears Surrounding Marijuana Fields."
The Toronto Star quoted RCMP Corporal Dan Moskaluk: "As the members are conducting the search of the house, at one point in time the (grow-op suspect) has to shoo a bear out of the residence and out of the way, coming out of the basement. The owner tried to assure, 'Don't worry, they won't become aggressive towards you, just don't approach them and things will be fine.' Certainly it's a little bit of an odd situation to be in." Referring to the pot-bellied pig and a raccoon, Cpl. Moskaluk explained, "The pig was a little frantic at the sight of police, but the raccoon was pretty laid back about the bust and took it all in stride."
Allen Piche, the forty-something man charged with planting the illegal cash crop and feeding the bears (along with his partner Kathleen), made a statement online. "Hi, my name is Allen. I'm the guy at Christina Lake who's been feeding the bears." He explained that it all began about ten years ago when he "began trying to nurse one bear back to health." Over the years, it expanded until he was putting out several kilograms of dog food a day.
Piche said that he had struck a deal with conservation officers to "keep giving the animals dog food until they leave to hibernate in early October." He made this statement after news got out the conservation officers might have to kill the bears.
"They've assured me we will not be killing any bears this fall," Piche stated. "We're going to take these bears right on through to hibernation, and that will give us an entire winter to come up with better solutions. We want a happy ending."
Superintendent Rick Hildebrand, of the provincial conservation service, said that Piche and his partner were allowed to continue to feed the bears, explaining at the time, "If we cut them off cold turkey, then we are concerned about sudden rash change of behavior," Hildebrand said. "It's kind of allowing them to simulate natural behaviour as much as possible so they can go to den and not cause any public safety issues."
The Mounties said that it wasn't clear if the couple accused of feeding the bears -- and now facing drug charges -- were using them to guard their pot plants or were keeping them as cute but big pets.
The couple is also being investigated for violations under the provincial Wildlife Act, such as feeding and leaving attractants out for dangerous wildlife. Piche faces fines of $100,000 for the first offence.
Allen and Kathleen Piche's trial on the grow-op charges is scheduled for February, 2012. Under the Harper government's new omnibus Crime Bill, the Piche's are facing a minimum of two years in federal prison.
The story made news around the world. Not only in newspaper, TV news broadcasts (such as CNN, BBC, CBC and Fox News) and satellite television sources such as Sky News, but also online, such as Google News and Yahoo News. It even made Youtube under the heading, "13 Bears Surround Police in a Pot Field."
The international uproar over word that some of the B C Pot Bears have been destroyed, including an online petition called "Save Bears Found in Drug Bust," might save some of the remaining bruins' lives. A Calgary woman named Doreen McKrindle launched the Facebook group "Help Save the B.C. Black Bears." Vancouver-born actor Jason Priestley has made a $1300 donation to the cause.
Should the Piche's have fed and domesticated the wild bears in the first place? After all, these were not cute honey pot bears or Berenstain Bears or teddy bears or even Hershey Bears. They were wild black bears living in the Canadian Northwoods.
Since the RCMP bust at Christina Lake, Conservation officers have killed 24 bears in that area.
"I can't confirm one hundred percent that they are the grow-op bears. But given the number we've dealt with, I think it's likely that some of them could be," stated Inspector Aaron Canuel of the British Columbia Conservation Service.
“It’s not within the natural hierarchy of bears in a particular area to have that many large male bears all together in one specific area. On average, in the Christina Lake area we’re dealing with four to six bears maybe a year. We’re up to nineteen -- pretty likely that a lot of those bears resulted in severe habituation by Allen Piche.”
However, Inspector Chris Doyle of the Conservation Service has few doubts where the bears came from. Doyle stated, "The bears are approaching people and searching for non-natural food around other people's houses and simply not being scared off and actually approaching people for food." He added that it was impossible to say whether any of the bears that were being fed eventually returned to the wild.
Want to learn ALL About Mounties, Dogs and the animals of the Canadian Wilds? Go to "Mountie Dog Stories and More: Evolution of the Realistic Dog Story and Realistic Animal Fiction" CLICK HERE: MOUNTIES, DOG & ANIMAL STORIES
News coverages include:
The Toronto Star: "Bit of an Odd Situation - Police Find Bears Guarding a Pot Crop"
The Ottawa Sun: "B. C. 'Bear Dude' Rankles Neighbours"
The Province: "Condemned Bears Get a Diet Instead"
MilitaryPhotos.net: "Cops: Bears Used to Guard B C Grow Op"
CBC - Radio Canada: "B. C. Pot Bears Wake Up With the Munchies" and "B. C.'s Famous Pot Bears Likely Killed"
The Globe and Mail: "B. C. Pot Bears Learning How to Feed Themselves"
News 1130: "Two Pot Bears Killed in Southern B C Over Safety Concerns"
Vancouver Metro News: "High Hopes for Pot Bears"
CNEWS: "Environmentalists Watching for Bears Who Guarded Pot"
The Huffington Post: "Black Bears Found Guarding POT Farm in Canada"
BCTV: "Video of Man Who Feeds the Pot Bears at Christina Lake"
Los Angeles Times: "Canadian Bears Aren't Very Good Watchdogs For Weed"
BBC News: "Tame Bears Guard Canadian Marijuana Farm"
CTV News: "Man in 'Pot Bear' Case Faces More Accusations"
News Source: http://goarticles.com/article/Pot-Bears-or-Guard-Bears-Canadian-Mounties-Met-by-Stoned-Bears/5709135/
Tags:
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