Now Playing: The Vancouver Columbian
Topic: Rural Living
Wildlife closer than urban dwellers think
Saturday, May 12, 2007
By Erik Robinson, Columbian Staff Writer
A black bear’s early-morning romp through east Vancouver is the latest example of wildlife embarking on an urban safari.
With more than150,000 human inhabitants, Vancouver isn’t exactly wilderness. Yet bald eagles, coyotes, cougars and bears live much closer than many residents of Washington’s fourth-largest city might think.
As the human population spreads out, animal experts say finding animals should be no surprise.
“The more people, the more development, the more interaction we’re going to see,” said Sandra Jonker, regional wildlife program manager for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Vancouver. “We’ve all seen that development has been increasing and continually going outwards into areas not occupied by people before.”
Jonker speculated that the hungry bear probably was drawn in by easy food on the edge of town and then spooked when spotted by people.
Coincidentally,Sundaykicksoff National Bear Awareness Week at the Oregon Zoo in Portland.
Chris Pfefferkorn, the zoo’s general curator, said bear sightings are rare but not unprecedented in the Portland-Van- couver urban area. As humans expand their terrain farther into wild lands, Pfefferkorn said, area residents may need to become much more vigilant against nuisance bears.
“Bears are very smart, and they’ll expend as little energy as possible to gain food,” he said. “A dumpster is very enticing to bears because that’s an easy place to find food.”
A bear traipsing through east Vancouver is undeniably unusual, but there are plenty of other animals sharing our environs.
“We average about 30 to 50 cougar sightings a year,” said Tom Moates, a state game officer in Vancouver. “That ranges from Camas-Washougal, through Hockinson, Yacolt and Amboy.”
Moates last month investigated a report of a cougar killing a lamb at a home north of Lacamas Lake. He figures the animal was probably a young cat pushed out of its home range by a bigger adult.
“They’re not looking to pick off people or anything like that,” Moates said. “You’re more likely getting struck by lightning.”
In 1994, a cougar led wildlife agents on a nighttime chase through Vancouver.
The cougar was spotted the night of April 1 in the parking lot of the Residence Inn, immediately north of state Highway 500 just west of Westfield Vancouver mall. Wildlife agents, Vancouver police and a large-animal veterinarian worked several hours cornering and finally tranquilizing the animal. The next day it was taken to the Willapa hills and released. Six months later, it was killed by poachers.
While cougars and bears are uncommon, other animals live smack-dab in the middle of the most urbanized neighborhoods in Vancouver.
Coyotes wander through city neighborhoods, mainly at night, looking for smaller prey such as rabbits and the occasional domestic pet. And for each of the past few summers, city officials have shooed people away from a bald eagle nest in a spectacularly noisy area directly across from Portland International Airport — reflecting the gradual comeback of a creature once on the brink of extinction.
Animal experts caution people to treat encroaching wild animals with respect.
“You don’t have to fear it, but I think we need to respect it,” Pfefferkorn said. “We need to be cautious in what we do. These animals that we encounter are not tame animals. You need to respect the capabilities of the animals and respect their need for space. When you see a bear, don’t walk up and take its picture.”
