Beginnings
This site started as venue for me to show off my wildlife pictures as an amatuer wildlife photographer migrating from film to digital SLR and experimenting with the new medium. As I became aware of the misinformation and the lack of understanding how to help prevent issues with bears, the site focus changed from showing off my wildlife pictures to trying to use it as a tool to educate people about black bears, help them understand the reasons bears come into our neighbourhoods and how to manage their presence and hopefully make a real change in the community safety and prevent the need to kill the bears.
Taking a step back for a moment ...
As I learnt more, the site grew and changed out of a sense of frustration with what is happening locally, as well as globally with respect to the environment and conservation of green space and wildlife that are affected by destruction and development of their home and world. So much of the development and expansion that happens with business and industry takes no heed or interest in the overall health of the planet and animals that call it home, but are simply and purely focussed on making dollars for the corporate bottom line no matter the long term cost.
What is the Issue?
Due diligence from the companies seeking expansion, governments seeking businesses to set up in their province, county or state to help add dollars to the area through taxes and wages, as well as local councils also hungry for those same dollars encouraging businesses into their community, has all the appearance of being done. The bottom line is the plans, development and expansions get pushed through on a majority of the projects at the expense of conservation of habitat and protection of species.
In British Columbia, the area that I am most familiar with, recent proposals in late 2011 for construction of an oil pipeline from Alberta Tar Sands across sensitive environmental habitat in northern B.C. that house many endangered species including the spotted owl are ludicrous. Any type of oil spill could well mean the destruction of large parts of the Great Bear Rainforest and species extinction, not to mention another Exxon Valdez type incident in the waters near Bella Coola.
More locally, there is the same sort of greed on the part of local councils for more tax dollars for the coffers. A couple of local examples in the Tri-City area are the Burke Mountain development in Coquitlam and the Dominion Triangle in Port Coquitlam.
Specifically, with this loss of green space in the suburban areas of Vancouver, this type of development and expansion affects much of the local wildlife, including nesting birds (tree and ground nesters), coyote and black bears to name but a few of the more visible creatures.
Reducing Habitat Destruction
Loss of habitat is the single greatest threat to plants and animals in Canada. Habitat is where a species lives, grows and reproduces. Plants, animals and humans depend on a variety of habitats for survival. Despite this, habitats across Canada are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Wetlands are being filled in, grasslands plowed under, forests cut down and rivers diverted and dammed. Habitat destruction and over-harvesting are major factors in species decline.
What causes Habitiat Destruction?
Urban development disrupts and divides natural habitats with the construction of new roads, subdivisions and malls. This leaves isolated fragments of ecosystems, changes pollination and seed-dispersal patterns, disrupts wildlife migration routes and reduces the size of breeding grounds.
What to do next?
I turned my focus to black bears in my community and the issue that development in the region was causing the displacement of bears into established residential areas. This displacement of bears and cubs that was caused by poor planning. The whole isse of addressing the development plans for more residences in the area through to ulimate conclusion without having a plan in place to mitigate the ensuing issues, the last part of the first decade of of the 21st century saw many bears shot and killed in the Tri-Cities. I believed there had to be a better solution. I determined I was going to make a difference in the place I call home. I approached council and called them to task in a very public manner, joined the appropriate commitee's to try and educate not only the public but the mayor and council of the day what we should be doing as a community to protect the bears and other wildlife we share out home with. This website hopefully illustrates part of this and my involvement with a rehab society that helped many of the orphaned bears that resulted from poor planning and lack of understaniding on the part of the local government officials and the slow action on their part to try and solve the issue that between the councils of the Tri-City area, created.
More …
In addition to the issues I feel strongly about, there is also links to several other areas, like Critter Care, North American Bear Centre and the founders and the work they do as well as a couple of human interest stories. All of these forays have one thing in common…animals.
My final comment on this introductory page to the site: We as humans may want to believe we are the superior and better being on the planet, but spend a little time with some of the animals on this planet and I seriously doubt that. I ahve had the privelege to spend some time in very close quarters with bears and they are simply amazingly smart, non-confrontational animals. Next to primates, they are widely accepted as being the closest to humans in intelligence.
Made on a Mac
