Bears Matter

10/06/2026

Oct 6th Article: Logging took the trees that bears called home. The Haida Nation is building them new dens

With centuries-old trees disappearing do to logging, the Haida Nation is crafting artificial dens from stumps to shelter coastal black bears for the upcoming winter, while hoping the effort doesn’t become an excuse for clear-cutting to continue unchecked.
By
Sonal Gupta for National Observer


Elijah Washington, a Haida member and stewardship technician with the Council of the Haida Nation, sits in front of a bear den he and his crew created from an old stump this summer, which they will monitor through winter. Photo by: Sonal Gupta / Canada's National Observer

Elijah Washington pushes through wet ferns and branches left by logging, crossing the mossy forest floor on Haida Gwaii. He kneels beside a massive western red cedar stump.

The cedar was felled decades ago during the industrial logging boom that cleared swaths of old growth across the archipelago off British Columbia’s north coast, leaving a hollow, decaying stump.

Its top has since been trimmed with a chainsaw to fit a plywood sheet, capped with weather-resistant roofing material and covered with thick green moss collected from the surrounding woods. Near the base, an opening roughly the width of Washington’s safety helmet leads into a sheltered hollow lined with moss.

“You just want it to be small enough for a mother bear to move in,” said Washington, a stewardship technician with the Haida Nation. “So it’s got to be just right, just like the Goldilocks, [the entrance] can’t be too big, can’t be too wide.”

Haida Nation stewardship technician Elijah Washington explains how crews choose old cedar stumps to turn into bear dens. Video by: Sonal Gupta / Canada's National Observer
The retrofitted stump is one of seven the Council of the Haida Nation had modified this summer to provide winter shelter for the coastal black bear, known in the Haida language as taan. Found nowhere else in the world, this subspecies of black bear is among the largest in North America.

Read more: go to link in comments

09/30/2026

❤️🐻🙏 Thank You Dr. Steve Herrero!

Retired UCalgary professor, Dr. Stephen Herrero, wrote the book on bear attacks, inspiring a generation of biologists and leading to changes in bear management https://bit.ly/4dRFDAI

University of Calgary Faculty of Science

09/26/2026

Our second ( out of three) BC rehabber is sounding the alarm! We are right in the middle of hyperplasia time with bears and they will risk coming closer to human areas for easy food sources and females with cubs may use humans as protection from male bears and other threats. This strategy is often called human shielding by bears. We are seeing more and more mother (with cubs) being killed by authorities this season and somewhat alarmingly some cubs(8 mos old) are let go to fend for themselves.? Rehabbers in BC for years have been allowed to take cubs up to 12mos old. What has changed?
Pls read Critter Care’s plea!

Keep this story alive!

Here at CCWS, we are having the same difficulties with receiving authorization for ungulates and now black bear cubs. Our permissible bear capacity is not being increased by the Ministry even though we have ample space and the resources to care for orphaned cubs, meaning they are left out there to die. We will not stay silent and we cannot stand to abide by these arbitrary determinations any longer. The Ministry's handling of orphaned wildlife must change. Their handling of black bear sows and their cubs must change. We are using our voice to stand up for our province's wildlife. Please help us by doing the same.

Yours sincerely,

Gail Martin - Founder/Executive Director
🐻❤️

Ways to help, as per Northern Lights Wildlife Society:

1. Download and read the PDF [can be found through link on shared post] so you understand the situation and why timely wildlife response matters.

2. Contact your MLA and ask for a practical system that allows qualified wildlife rehabilitators and Conservation Officers to respond quickly when orphaned wildlife needs help.

3. Contact the B.C. Minister of Environment and Parks and respectfully ask that the current approach to orphaned wildlife in [B.C.] be reviewed.

4. Share this information on social media with friends, family and others who care about wildlife so more people understand what is happening.

Keep this story alive! Take action!

Changes in how orphaned wildlife cases are being handled in the Omineca region are making it increasingly difficult for Northern Lights Wildlife Society to respond when young animals need help. In some cases, the delay in obtaining approval can mean the difference between an animal remaining a good candidate for rehabilitation and rewilding, or becoming too compromised to help.

We have prepared a short PDF outlining our official statement, why it matters, and what is happening right now with two orphaned black bear cubs that we believe still have a chance.

https://www.wildlifeshelter.com/omineca-black-bear-cubs-nlws-canada

🐻🥰

09/17/2026

We need to assist Northern Lights Rehabilitation Society by writing emails after reading what’s been going on this summer by govt biologists at the Ministry of Environment & Parks! Share, share, share info as well!

I thought one of our govt’s core tenets was not to inflict inhumane treatment on animals/wildlife!?

We now all need to advocate for letting our licensed non profit rehabbers do their amazing 24/7 dedicated work on our behalf!

We need to share this information with all of you so you understand when we are unable to assist wildlife in need. Please note:
This is not a decision made by Conservation Officers, but rather by biologists at BC Ministry of Water Land and Resource Stewardship, Fish and Wildlife, Omineca
https://www.wildlifeshelter.com/omineca-black-bear-cubs-nlws-canada

09/17/2026

💔😢🥵

A mother grizzly and her two cubs are dead. The community of Nelson, BC is asking why.

When government agencies make the decision to kill (or "destroy," as is the technical term) bears, the public deserves transparency. We are calling on the Government of British Columbia, in partnership with local agencies and conservation officers, to share the evidence, risk assessment and alternatives considered when assessing the case of Nell and her cubs.

Breeding females are the future of grizzly populations in Canada. Trust starts with transparency.
___

Une mère grizzli et ses deux petits sont morts. La communauté de Nelson, en Colombie-Britannique, sevdemande pourquoi.

Lorsque les organismes gouvernementaux prennent la décision d’abattre des ours, le public mérite de savoir pourquoi. Nous demandons au gouvernement de la Colombie-Britannique, en collaboration avec les organismes locaux et les agents de conservation, de rendre publics les éléments de preuve, l’évaluation des risques et les solutions de rechange envisagées dans le cas de Nell et de ses petits.

Les femelles reproductrices sont essentielles à l’avenir des populations de grizzlis au Canada. La confiance commence par la transparence.

09/06/2026

❤️

08/27/2026

By Gosia Bryja I’m glad to see my response to last week’s Nelson Star editorial published today, together with a great letter from a local community member.

Labels such as “habituated,” “food-conditioned,” or “loss of fear” are too often treated as enough to justify killing, without much scientific reasoning behind those decisions. More than a decade of peaceful coexistence can then be pushed aside once those labels take over, without a clear explanation.

It is not coexistence that is broken. It is a system that turns labels into justification for lethal action, reinforced by those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

Thank you to the Nelson Star for giving space to this discussion.