Karelian Bear Dogs
Karelian Bear Dogs were bred in Russia and Finland to hunt bears. Here in North America, these bear dogs are part of bear management programs aimed at rehabilitating "problem" bears. Karelian Bear Dogs can be used to teach the bears, as well as other species such as cougars and elk, to respect and avoid human "territories".
People create problem bears. If people are not careful with food and smelly garbage around their property or camp, it attracts hungry wildlife like bears. When bears learn to associate people with food, and learn that people are not scary, they become "habituated". A problem bear = "nuisance" bear = "garbage" bear = "habituated" bear.
FACT: on average, 1000 bears lose their lives in BC each year for being "problem bears".
The way Karelian Bear Dogs may typically be used to help bears:
- a trained team of bear dogs and a dog handler work with the Conservation Officer (CO), usually in a chase situation. The bear is chased to a safe distance away, at which point the chase is called off. This tells the bear that it is a territorial dispute and not a predatory attack. The bear learns recognize the boundary of our territory and learns to stay away.
- through educational programs like BearAware, a trained team of humans work with the community to teach proper disposal of garbage, fruit from fruit trees, etc... so as not to continue to attract wildlife to their property. "A fed bear is a dead bear".
The problem in British Columbia (BC) is that it is illegal to chase bears with dogs because it is considered harassment of wildlife. But - the Hunting & Trapping Regulations allow off-leash chases of bears and cougars by dogs. So... a hunter is allowed to chase a bear with a dog for the purposes of killing it...? There is certainly something wrong with this picture!
We have been proposing amendments to the BC Wildlife Act that would open the door to the use of trained Karelian Bear Dogs by a trained handler, such as a Conservation Officer. Our second petition was presented to the BC legislature (Fall 2008), and now we NEED YOUR HELP to encourage the Ministry of Environment to make the proposed changes.
WRITE!!! FAX!!! PHONE!!! E-MAIL!!! WRITE!!! FAX!!! PHONE!!! E-MAIL!!!
This month end will wrap-up our 5-year campaign to amend section 78 of the BC Wildlife Act to allow Karelian Bear Dogs to save bears from being needlessly murdered. More than 1,000 black bears each year are destroyed where working dogs could have saved them! Enough is enough..and we need to let the BC government know it. Karelian's are a safe, effective, inexpensive alternative to killing BC's bears.
Write, fax or phone BC representatives to let them know you are embarrassed by their outdated laws and methods, and that BC needs to start employing Karelian Bear Dogs.
Have you written a letter?
Yes = Great! Bears thank you. WRITE ANOTHER ONE!
No = Get on it! We wrap up the campaign at the end of August...one more unified effort shows we are serious!
FOLLOW THIS LINK to see how you can help!Grizzly bears, black bears, polar bears, cougars, and ungulates can all be taught to respect boundaries - indeed, any animal that understands what "territory" is. And, an important part of any bear/wildlife management is education, such as the BearAware initiative.
For more info about the Karelian Bear Dog breed, you can try the Canadian Kennel Club.
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