the bodies of retired Regina couple<\/a> Jay and Deb MacDonald, both in their early 70s, were found near their cabin at McTavish Lake, approximately 90 kilometres north of La Ronge.<\/p>\nThe Ministry of Community Safety confirmed that a bear was involved in their deaths, though details of their final moments have yet to emerge.<\/p>\n
Those three fatalities from May to July equal half of Saskatchewan\u2019s six bear-related human deaths on record.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hara wouldn\u2019t speak about the recent incidents, as the couple\u2019s deaths are still under investigation.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Ministry of Community Safety confirmed that the investigation into Koloth\u2019s death \u201cis complete and there is no additional information available.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hara did offer possible explanations for the rise in attacks, plus methods to prevent attacks for which fighting is the sole \u2014 and sometimes insufficient \u2014 recourse.<\/p>\n
Prevention is bear necessity<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a number of things that can impact bear behaviour . . . whether that be environmental factors or human factors,\u201d noted O\u2019Hara.<\/p>\n
One human factor, she emphasized, is improperly stored or cleaned food.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re intelligent animals and they\u2019re ruled by their stomachs, so they\u2019re spending most of their time looking for food,\u201d O\u2019Hara said of black bears, Saskatchewan\u2019s only confirmed bruin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing that we can do to minimize our chances of an encounter with bears is making sure that we\u2019re minimizing any human food sources that they can get into.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storing pet food indoors, properly managing garbage, and cleaning barbecues are preventative measures cited by O\u2019Hara.<\/p>\n
Natural factors for bear encounters concern cubs and territory.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The) majority of encounters with black bears are defensive in nature. So it\u2019s typically happening when you\u2019re coming between a bear and either it\u2019s protecting its territory or a resource or its cubs,\u201d O\u2019Hara said. <\/p>\n
But such encounters don\u2019t usually result in bear aggression. It\u2019s the \u201cextremely rare\u201d predatory encounters that do.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan\u2019s black bear population is stable, O\u2019Hara said, with some areas seeing more bear calls than normal and some less. Bear density is highest near the centre of the province, where the aspen parkland meets the boreal forest.<\/p>\n
But even the sites with higher-than-normal densities are \u201call part of normal population fluctuations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attack deterrents<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re just encountering a bear, stay calm, don\u2019t run,\u201d advised O\u2019Hara, who has yet to have a close call with the species she oversees provincially.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The) best thing you can do is sort of calmly back away slowly, make a wide detour, speak in a firm, deep voice, and make direct eye contact with the bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
If possible, back up towards cover, such as a vehicle or building, but do not climb a tree because \u201cbears are excellent climbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the bear continues to approach, O\u2019Hara added, you can try to distract it by throwing something like an article of clothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, if you have bear spray on you . . . pull it out, and be prepared to use that bear spray.<\/p>\n
\u201cBear spray has been found to be effective on all species of bears found in Canada, so that\u2019s one of your best methods of defence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right to bear arms<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hara declined to comment on the efficacy of firearms as bear deterrents, but the RCMP allows residents to carry non-restricted rifles and shotguns for wilderness protection.<\/p>\n
Moreover, restricted long guns and handguns can be carried with a licence if you are a professional trapper or need protection from wildlife while working a different wilderness job.<\/p>\n
Carriers must be sure of having proper permits in Saskatchewan because, per the Wildlife Act, \u201ccarrying a firearm in a locality where any wildlife may reasonably be expected to be found is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of hunting.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not known if any of the recent victims carried bear spray or firearms.<\/p>\n
Asked about the protocol for bears that have attacked or might attack humans, O\u2019Hara deferred the answer to conservation officers, but noted that such animals are typically relocated or dispatched.<\/p>\n
The two bears suspected in the three recent deaths were euthanized and taken for necropsy at Saskatoon\u2019s Western College of Veterinary Medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cNecropsies are typically the way that they get the 100 per cent confirmation that it was the bear involved in any incident,\u201d O\u2019Hara said.<\/p>\n
Still, in a province where bears are not the only animals to attack, O\u2019Hara stresses prevention from humans \u2014 the most dangerous species \u2014\u00a0above all else.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere (are) provincial regulations that prohibit the feeding of bears, wolves, cougars and coyotes for that purpose, so they don\u2019t become habituated to humans and become a potential danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Black bear attacks are rare, typically defensive, and seldom predatory. But if you are attacked by a black…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,31130,66,323],"class_list":["post-829632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-northern-saskatchewan","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}