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A winter walk paid off months later for a Prince George, B.C., family who captured footage of a family of bears waking up from hibernation.
Serge Wolf lives on a rural property with his wife and two children in the north-central B.C. city, about 500 kilometres north of Vancouver.
Wolf and his family were hiking through the woods in January when his four-year-old daughter noticed a hole in the ground.
“I thought immediately, well, it has to be a den,” Wolf said.
His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a slight whining noise coming from inside, prompting him to think that “those must be cubs.”
When Serge Wolf found a potential bear den on his property in Prince George, B.C., he set up a camera in the hopes of filming the animal. Months later, he got footage of 2 cubs waking up from their winter break, along with their mom.
He set up a trail camera to keep tabs, but wasn’t sure he would be successful in seeing the animals emerge — though he did see a wolf examining the den, “which was really exciting.”
It was also a reminder nothing was guaranteed: The animals could be attacked by another predator or die of natural causes.
On March 19 a sow bear emerged, yawning and eating some snow.
Things stayed quiet until April 10 when the mother bear emerged again, followed by a pair of small cubs.
“We were stoked to see it,” Wolf said.
The cubs wandered around while mother bear looked on, providing great footage for Wolf and his family. Later that evening, all three walked off camera, not to be seen again.
Officials prepare for ‘bearmageddon’
The re-emergence of bears in Prince George has officials reminding the public to take steps not to attract the animals into urban areas.
Conservation officers and RCMP fielded thousands of calls about bears in the community last year, resulting in a record 81 being killed, more than double the previous average.
At a report to council earlier this year, Prince George RCMP referred to it as “bearmageddon” — and said they are hopeful it won’t happen again.
Bears are out in full force in Prince George in northern B.C., eating berries, exploring backyard swing sets and being disappointed by empty garbage cans.
At one point things became so bad police put out a public notice pleading with residents not to call 911 if they saw a bear unless it was an emergency.
Conservation officer Eamon McArthur said while dry conditions may have reduced food supply for bears in the wild, the real culprit was the presence of readily available food in the city in the form of unpicked fruit trees and unsecured garbage.
Daybreak North6:23Bears awakening in Prince George
<p>B.C. conservation officers are planning for the worst, but hoping for the best after last year’s busy bear season.</p>
Bylaw officers and the conservation service have said they will once again wage a public information campaign on how to remove attractants from property, and are likely to issue fines for repeat offenders.
McArthur said with earlier than normal spring-like weather and the persistence of dry conditions in Prince George, 2024 could be just as bad as last year if more people don’t take steps not to bring bears into the community.
Wolf agrees.
“It’s their habitat and we’re just guests,” he said.
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