And yet another bear story...they're getting smart :-)

Whistler bears learn valuable skill
B.C. bruins can open doors and fridges
Scott Stinson, National Post
Friday, September 17, 2004

Black bears with an acquired taste for leftovers have figured out how to open doors and windows in the resort community of Whistler, B.C., with at least one resident finding a bear raiding her fridge. Wildlife officials and bear experts say while no one has been harmed by foraging bruins this year, a spike in the bear population has the potential for trouble on the rise.
"It is getting dangerous to have bears that familiar with human habitation," said Mike Allen, a Whistler bear researcher who also conducts bear-viewing tours for the public. "There have been around 50 or 60 homes broken into this year -- they'll go through the windows or turn doorknobs and go in that way."
Mr. Allen said some of the bears have become adept at finding food in homes and vehicles. They open doors, cupboards and drawers and have learned to associate the sight of a freezer or refrigerator with a hiding place for cold snacks.
"They know to go right to that kitchen fridge," he said, adding that one Whistler resident spent "quite some time" in her home before realizing a bear was rummaging through the pantry. The animal proceeded to rifle through the fridge as the woman looked on in terror.
Another woman, Mr. Allen said, put some groceries down on the table, returned to her car for another load and came back to find the table empty and a bear poking through bags on the floor. "There hasn't been any clear research on the subject, but I think there's a correlation between the amount of time a bear spends in the Whistler Village area and the probability it acquires the skill to break into a human habitat," Mr. Allen said.
The increase in bear activity around the village is a result of consecutive robust berry-growing seasons in the surrounding forest. Mr. Allen said the high berry yield leads to healthy, happy adult females, which are in turn more likely to give birth to multiple cubs.
"We've had more than 50 cubs in the past two years," he said, noting that a typical summer would normally bring fewer than 20 cubs. "When they grow older, the mothers kick them out on their own and they have to find something to eat. So where do they go? Near people."
Lance Sundquist, a conservation officer with the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, said bears will always be close to humans in Whistler because the rural and urban areas are intertwined, but that residents have to keep garbage away from areas that could attract the animals.
"If we manage the food attractions so there's no reason for them to stay [in the village], we're a long way toward solving the issue."
Mr. Sundquist said the number of calls from the public about bear sightings in Whistler is up this year over last year, as is the number of bears that ministry officials have had to respond to -- in some cases relocating them to other areas and in some cases destroying them.
Mr. Sundquist said weather is partly to blame for the bear influx in the residential areas this year. A hot-temperature spell ripened the bumper berry crop earlier than usual, so after bears had eaten that natural food they moved lower in the Whistler valley in search of more to eat. Their hunt appears to have brought them closer to town, he said.

However, Whistler Mayor Hugh O'Reilly said the town council is not considering specific action to address the increased bear population. The town already has procedures in place to limit bear access to garbage, he said, such as bear-proof public receptacles and the use of garbage depots instead of curbside pickup.
"The bears will take care of themselves," he said. "If there's nothing for them to eat, there's lots of wilderness around for them to go to."
But Mr. Allen said the town should go beyond educating residents about bear concerns, since much of its population comes from transient visitors.
"A lot of the tourists don't have anywhere to take their garbage or any way to get it to a depot," he said. "So it ends up at the side of the house, or piling up in a back room. And in the summer, when that garbage starts to smell, the bears will go right through your wall to get it."
He also said no receptacle is 100% bear-proof.
"Some of them have learned to rip the back right off of those things," he said.
"The garbage is the root of the problem. Once they get those issues worked out, we can sit back and see how that worked, and then we can go from there."
Mr. Allen said there are about 25 resident adult bears in the nearby woods.