They didn’t come into the city looking for trouble and were escorted out without incident, so Winnipeggers ought to just grin and bear it.
The two medium-sized ursine visitors in nine days — separately finding temporary lodging in a Wildwood tree nine days ago, and in one along the Seine River in Royalwood Wednesday — are likely not related, and somehow lost their way, a Manitoba Conservation officer said Thursday.
“I just see it as a chance event that we had two (sightings) so close to each other,” Sgt. Graeme Smith said, adding bears come and go at night by way of the riverbanks, often without anyone noticing. Once the sun comes up, it’s a different story.
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS FILES
A black bear hangs in an oak tree in Winnipeg’s Wildwood neighourhood May 21.
The black bears most likely were spooked off their intended course by someone or something, Smith said.
“There’s certainly not bears living in the city,” he said.
The province has had three confirmed reports of bears inside the Perimeter Highway since January, which is on par with previous years, he said.
Stonewall-based Black Bear Rescue Manitoba owner Judy Stearns, who cares for orphaned cubs, said it has been a quiet year, thus far.
She works with Manitoba Conservation, and currently has five young residents.
May is the most common month for urban sightings, she said.
“We’ve got so many rivers that they can follow in; it’s a bit of a sidewalk for wildlife,” she said
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.