Woman with dog knowingly approaches black bear despite warnings (PHOTOS)
A BC photographer said she was “surprised and disappointed” after a woman seemed to have ignored her warning of a black bear in the area and walked right past the wild animal.
Natalie Wannamaker said she was photographing what she said was a juvenile black bear walking along Valley Trail in Whistler from a distance last week.
Submitted by Natalie Wannamaker
However, when Wannamaker saw a woman walking her dog heading down to the trail, she waved at the woman and warned her not to come into close contact, “especially because her dog had started barking.”
“She disregarded what I said completely … which put herself, the bear, her dog and then everyone else in the surrounding area in danger,” Wannamaker said.
Submitted by Natalie Wannamaker
The photographer explained, “unfortunately, she proceeded through” and pushed her dog forward, in between her and the bear.
Wannamaker said it was “unfortunate” to see, adding, “I thought she would have had a little bit more consideration for her pet.”
“It’s weird to see that somebody would have such little regard for their dog and the wildlife,” she added.
Submitted by Natalie Wannamaker
Thankfully, the bear just seemed to be curious Wannamaker said and the woman and her dog were able to pass by safely.
However, it’s not lost on her that if the bear felt threatened it could have been a frightening experience.
Wannamaker added, “luckily,” there weren’t many people in the area since they had left the tail. However, there was a man behind the woman who took a step back once he saw that the bear was there.
The local photographer added there was a way for the woman to take a different route.
After the woman walked by the bear, Wannamaker said she spoke to the pet owner again to say, “Hey, you just put everybody in danger. It’s really lucky that your dog is okay because that could have turned really badly.”
However, Wannamaker said the woman responded by saying she lived in the area. In response, Wannamaker said she lived in the area too, but “that doesn’t make you immune to bears.”
“She definitely showed it like kind of it seems like she’s almost been like kind of desensitized to the wildlife in the area.”
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Wannamaker admits while it is common to see black bears roaming around Whistler, it’s important for locals and tourists to take proper measures when encountering them.
“Even though it’s very common to see bears in British Columbia, at the end of the day, it’s not a petting zoo. So you got to make sure that you’re always be precautions in those situations,” she warns.