100 Mile House Conservation Officer James Zucchelli says contrary to stories circulating about grizzly bears sighted locally, no reports have been made to the local office.
“There are some reports on Facebook, but nothing that has come through to us.”
No evidence of any grizzly sightings in the 100 Mile House area, nor any conflicts with humans or animals anywhere within the South Cariboo have been reported at the local office during his eight years there, he adds.
Zucchelli says any unconfirmed hearsay buzzing around that a female grizzly and cub were seen in the Forest Grove dump area on or around Sept. 6 is more than likely false, as is another rumour of a grizzly supposedly spotted recently in Walker Valley at 108 Mile Ranch.
While he did see a grizzly himself last fall on Mt. Timothy (with no conflicts), and also confirmed evidence of a grizzly at Murphy Lake north of there, COs do not normally see signs of them even that close by, he explains.
“It is very rare in this area, but there is potential – it is not to say that is can’t happen, but a lot of times it is a misidentification of a really light coloured black bear.”
Black bears exist in a variety of colours ranging from black to brown to blonde to blue-grayish, he notes.
“Grizzly bears have rounded ears and a shorter nose– more pig-like looking – whereas black bears have a longer, more pointed snout and more pointy ears.
The local CO adds black bears of any colour also don’t have the big hump over the shoulders (sometimes mistaken by the angle of view) or the huge claws evident on a grizzly.
“The claws are probably the most indicative. The claws on a grizzly bear are at least three, if not four times longer than a black bear, [particularly] the big, white, very long claws on the front.
“There are people out there that may know what they are seeing, and maybe they are seeing [grizzlies], but we haven’t had any conflicts, and haven’t had any reports of any of them.”
Any predator sightings, especially in any residential area – and any grizzly bears seen anywhere near 100 Mile House – should be immediately reported to the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277, he adds.
