{"id":25,"date":"2006-07-02T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-02T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocky-peak.com\/blog\/?p=25"},"modified":"2006-07-02T06:01:00","modified_gmt":"2006-07-02T03:01:00","slug":"fugitive-bear-faces-castration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocky-peak.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/fugitive-bear-faces-castration.html","title":{"rendered":"Fugitive Bear Faces Castration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boo, the fugitive bear, spotted with furry friend; Lusty grizzly faces castration if his captors are able to contain him long enough <\/span><\/p>\n

Boo, the freedom-loving grizzly who has twice busted out of his large wilderness compound, may be having fun in the sun as he cavorts in the wild with a new female companion.<\/span>
<\/span>
But his lust-life looks to be short-lived. Castration is looming for the powerful young male. That is, if his caretakers can hold him long enough to put an end to his romantic rampages.<\/span><\/p>\n

To make his second great escape, Boo crashed through a 180-kilogram steel door and stormed over a four-metre-high electrified fence that he managed to deactivate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early yesterday morning, helicopter searchers spotted him for the first time since his weekend break for freedom. He was in a remote alpine area six kilometres west of the Rocky Mountain wildlife refuge where he had been kept for the past two years.<\/span>
Boo was not alone. <\/span><\/p>\n

“He was found with another grizzly bear, presumably a female. Male grizzlies don’t hang out together,” said Mike Dalzell, spokesman for the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort that runs the refuge. <\/span><\/p>\n

The same thing happened when Boo went AWOL for the first time earlier this month, albeit in a more genteel manner, by digging underneath the compound fence. <\/span><\/p>\n

He was soon seen in the company of a female grizzly, at least for the first few of the 19 days he was on the lam.<\/span>
“We were discussing it over coffee today, trying to decide who was at fault,” joked regional environment manager Wayne Stetski. <\/span>
“The consensus was that a wanton woman lured poor Boo out of the compound, took advantage of him, then dumped him.”<\/span>
But Mr. Stetski, along with other grizzly experts, knows that the question of what to do with Boo is a serious matter.<\/span>
Almost certainly, if the decision is made to capture and bring him back alive, the ultrafrisky grizzly will lose his sexual prowess.<\/span>
“That’s very high on our list of options,” Mr. Stetski said. “He never exhibited interest in getting out before. Then there was a female on the mountain and the interest definitely increased.<\/span>
“I’ve been surprised by how strong the attraction was. Neutering would certainly cool him down.”<\/span>
Mr. Stetski said he is also in awe of the “strength and intelligence and determination” shown by the 4\u00bd-year-old bear in freeing himself from a secure area in the wildlife refuge thought to be, like Alcatraz, escape-proof.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the moment, searchers are merely monitoring Boo’s whereabouts. There are no firm plans to capture him because there is not yet a secure place to house the 480-kilogram grizzly. <\/span>
“Boo certainly can’t go back where he was until the resort comes up with improvements to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Experts agree that Boo’s future should not include the wilderness he yearns to roam. They say he is short on survival skills and is a risk to humans because of his familiarity with them during his long captivity.<\/span>
“He’s become a problem,” said Ken Macquisten, veterinarian for the two young grizzlies currently kept in a large open-air refuge on North Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain.<\/span>
“It’s sad. Boo didn’t know how good he had it. Now, he will probably have to be kept in a more traditional, fortress-like enclosure.” <\/span>
Boo has been kept in various wildlife refuges since he was orphaned as a cub, when his mother was shot — illegally — by a hunter.<\/span>
Mr. Stetski said Boo’s predicament has prompted a lot of philosophical debate about “what’s right and what’s wrong in dealing with grizzly bears.<\/span>
“It’s a fascinating situation, but it’s a tough one. The upside for Boo is that he’s become a celebrity. And everyone will be watching us, when we finally decide what to do.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: ROD MICKLEBURGH – Globe and Mail, June 28, 2006 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n