B.C. man captures video of 2 bear cubs waking from winter slumber
CBC
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."
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.
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.
