Peak season for tourons in North America usually kicks off around Memorial Day. But this year in Canada, there are a couple early front-runners already jockeying for their Darwin Awards. In a social media post they made over the weekend, two unidentified dimwits shared videos of themselves hand-feeding a wild grizzly bear along a road in British Columbia.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it has received multiple reports regarding the two men in the videos, and officers are now seeking additional information from the public.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the BCCOS said the bear-feeding incident is believed to have taken place in the Hudson Bay Road area near Smithers. Although they’re still investigating the case, the officers do not believe the suspects are residents of British Columbia.
“On one occasion, a man is seen feeding a bear a carrot from a vehicle. In another, a man is outside of a vehicle trying to feed a bear an apple,” the BCCOS wrote in the post, describing the two videos. “A second grizzly bear can be seen in the background.”
The agency shared screenshots from the videos but neither of the men’s faces are visible. Outdoor Life was unable to find the original video clips, and the BCCOS did not specify the platform where they were posted.
Under the province’s Wildlife Act, it is illegal “to intentionally feed or attempt to feed dangerous wildlife.” That includes leaving any food attractants in the premises of dangerous wildlife, or in an area where there are likely to be people. Intentionally feeding a grizzly bear by hand would certainly qualify, and it’s hard to imagine a more reckless illustration of this.
Read Next: Watch: Drunk Dudes Harass Moose, Get Stomped
The reason for these laws, which exist everywhere grizzlies are found, is that feeding bears can habituate them to humans. This often leads to dangerous — and sometimes fatal — conflicts. The penalties for this sort of violation in B.C. can range up to $100,000 in fines and/or jail time, according to the BCCOS.
“These individuals could have been seriously hurt, or worse,” CO Cody Cyr. said in the post. “Feeding bears is not helping them. Feeding bears creates a public safety risk by conditioning the animals to human food and presence.”
During the summer of 2017, the Peace BCCOS received complaints regarding individuals posting pictures on social media of bears being unlawfully fed. Today charges were laid concerning the matter and as a result two individuals are scheduled to appear in Ft Nelson Court on Nov 5. pic.twitter.com/MzZ0L0senX
— BC CO Service (@_BCCOS) October
16, 2018
Shockingly, there is at least one other example of this sort of brainless behavior in B.C. In 2017, a couple driving on the Alaska Highway posted photos of themselves hand-feeding donuts and hot dogs to a grizzly bear through the window of their vehicle. According to the CBC, the man, Randy Scott, had posted these kinds of videos before. On one occasion, he was observed feeding a grizzly by a conservation officer patrolling the highway.
Scott eventually pleaded guilty to the wildlife violation and was fined $2,000. The woman he was feeding bears with, Megan Hiltz, had her charges stayed.
Read the full article here
