‘I was horrified’: Bear cub’s death a tough loss for east-enders

WARNING: The above photo gallery contains a picture of the cub shortly after it was struck on Lake Street. The photo may be disturbing to some readers.

For the past 20 years, Sault resident Cindy Walker has enjoyed a front-row seat to frequent bear activity in her east-end backyard on MacDonald Avenue.

On Monday morning, as she has done several times in the past, Walker shared a photo to the new SSM Bear Watch group on Facebook that a familiar mama bear and two cubs were spending time on her property.

“We’ve watched them for so long — all spring and summer,” she says. “They just become part of your backyard activities.”

But by that same time on Tuesday, another group member shared that a cub had been struck and killed by a vehicle on the Lake Street hill near Riverview Public School. An upsetting photo showed a mama bear dragging her cub’s lifeless body across the street while its sibling looked on.

Walker knew instantly the cub was one of her frequent visitors.

“I was horrified when I saw that one had been hit,” she says. “They’ve become part of my daily routine.”

Locals from that part of the east end have regarded the neighbourhood as a high traffic area for the furry creatures.

Amanda Artuso, the founder of SSM Bear Watch, says a post had been made to the group roughly 20 minutes prior to the incident that showed the trio of bears roaming the area.

She’s fairly confident the accident could have been prevented.

“It was upsetting, and part of me thinks it was avoidable,” she says. “The posted speed limit in that area is 40 km since it’s a school zone. I know a lot of people don’t follow the speed there, but I wasn’t there to witness it so I can’t say for sure.”

“What we do know is that the bears frequent that area a lot.”

One apparent witness in the Facebook group claimed the cub had run out in front of the vehicle and left the driver virtually no time to hit the brakes.

Artuso told SooToday that she was eventually contacted by the partner of the driver who struck the cub. She says they had requested that the post of the incident be taken down from the group.

“Although it was graphic and might be offensive to some people, I made the decision to keep it because it’s kind of proving the point here that people should be more aware,” she explains. “The reason I made this group was to make people aware of the bears’ location and prevent some of these accidents in the first place.”

Walker first caught sight of the mama and two cubs this year in late March, but she says this particular family — and likely several generations back — have been paying visits to her backyard since she and her husband moved to the neighbourhood.

While she doesn’t know exactly why the bears enjoy hanging out in her particular yard, Walker has grown quite fond of watching them from the safety of her home.

“Every time you put yourself out there on social media, we get asked: ‘What are we feeding the bears?’ or ‘What are we attracting them with?’ We have no bird feeders, no hummingbird nectar, we don’t compost, and they’re never in our trash. We’re simply on the bear path. They do like our pond, so maybe that’s a draw.”

The MacDonald Avenue resident says they haven’t seen the cub’s mama or sibling since Tuesday’s incident.

The bear cub’s death has sparked an online conversation about how to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future, whether that’s driving slower, staying updated on social media, or adding "bear crossing" signage to the area.

“Signage would be beneficial,” Walker says.

SooToday is awaiting comment from the Ministry of Natural Resources to determine their involvement with Tuesday’s incident and whether follow-up measures, such as signage, would be considered.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.