For the first time since the Pleistocene, wildlife biologists in British Columbia have confirmed a resident mama grizzly and her cubs living on Vancouver Island.On Thursday, local wildlife photographer Catherine Babaut posted a video of the elusive ‘Ursus arctos Horribilis’ and her two cubs at an undisclosed location on the northern part of the island, between Campbell River and Port Hardy.Although grizzly bears have been known to swim the waters of the 100-kilometre long Johnstone Strait since the 1970s, it’s the first time the mammals have been confirmed to have taken up residence on the eastern shores of the island.The strait, which empties into the much larger Queen Charlotte Strait, is the narrowest point between the island and the mainland but is still several kilometres across..The last time grizzlies took up permanent residence on Vancouver Island was during the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. At that time, Vancouver Island would have been part of the mainland continental North America.Garth Mowat, a carnivore specialist with the B.C. Ministry of Environment, told Victoria’s Chek News he thinks the cubs were born in January or February of last year. Although it’s possible they could have been born on the mainland, he said it’s highly unlikely that a female with young cubs would have made the swim across the channel. It also suggests a larger resident population of willing males than was previously believed.But Mowat said grizzlies have been expanding their range all through BC pointing to the success of conservation measures throughout the province..“It’s actually going on up and down the coast… and it’ll happen slowly. There’s sort of a progression. Young males show up and they go looking around. Often they leave and don’t come back and then eventually it’s the precursor to adults showing up and adults staying, and it seems to be the pattern on Vancouver Island,” he said.Humans are unlikely to notice any immediate change in their usual encounters with wildlife, although other species like black bears and an indigenous herd of Roosevelt elk are likely to compete for territory in the flatter plains.“I don’t think there’s going to be any massive changes that people are going to perceive other than when people go camping they’ll see grizzlies instead of black bears,” Mowatt said.
For the first time since the Pleistocene, wildlife biologists in British Columbia have confirmed a resident mama grizzly and her cubs living on Vancouver Island.On Thursday, local wildlife photographer Catherine Babaut posted a video of the elusive ‘Ursus arctos Horribilis’ and her two cubs at an undisclosed location on the northern part of the island, between Campbell River and Port Hardy.Although grizzly bears have been known to swim the waters of the 100-kilometre long Johnstone Strait since the 1970s, it’s the first time the mammals have been confirmed to have taken up residence on the eastern shores of the island.The strait, which empties into the much larger Queen Charlotte Strait, is the narrowest point between the island and the mainland but is still several kilometres across..The last time grizzlies took up permanent residence on Vancouver Island was during the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. At that time, Vancouver Island would have been part of the mainland continental North America.Garth Mowat, a carnivore specialist with the B.C. Ministry of Environment, told Victoria’s Chek News he thinks the cubs were born in January or February of last year. Although it’s possible they could have been born on the mainland, he said it’s highly unlikely that a female with young cubs would have made the swim across the channel. It also suggests a larger resident population of willing males than was previously believed.But Mowat said grizzlies have been expanding their range all through BC pointing to the success of conservation measures throughout the province..“It’s actually going on up and down the coast… and it’ll happen slowly. There’s sort of a progression. Young males show up and they go looking around. Often they leave and don’t come back and then eventually it’s the precursor to adults showing up and adults staying, and it seems to be the pattern on Vancouver Island,” he said.Humans are unlikely to notice any immediate change in their usual encounters with wildlife, although other species like black bears and an indigenous herd of Roosevelt elk are likely to compete for territory in the flatter plains.“I don’t think there’s going to be any massive changes that people are going to perceive other than when people go camping they’ll see grizzlies instead of black bears,” Mowatt said.
