Bear craving attention in Craven area

Black bears aren't uncommon in the Qu'Appelle Valley.

However, Jackie Rich saidseeing one in her Craven-area farmyard is uncommon. In fact, it's a first.

"A lot of shock," she said. "My husband has lived here for 45 years. My father-in-law for more than 70 years. And they've never seen a bear here."

Earlier this week, Jackieand her husband, Trevor, captured the bear on video, recorded from inside their home.

It shows the bear looking into a couple of garbagebarrels and then wandering toward the Rich's deck, while Trevor narrates.

Jackie saidthe bear strolled around the yard for several minutes.

"I posted the video because I wanted our friends and neighbours to be aware of the bear in the area," she said. "Y'know, kids, animals, I just wanted people to be on the lookout."

To her knowledge, she said the bear has not been seen since it left their yard around 8:30 p.m. CST Sunday evening.

Bear population in Sask. may be increasing

Darrell Crabbe,executive director for the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, saidthe bear looks brown, but it's actually a cinnamon bear, a subspecies of the black bear.

Crabbe saidthere are many black bears in the Qu'Appelle Valley system, which runs across the province.

He saidthey're generally a reclusive animal, but they can be spotted when they're on the move.

"Who knows, a dominant male bear may have felt threatened by him and that's why he's moving on," Crabbe said.

He said the bear population in Saskatchewan may beincreasing recently and that may lead to more sightings aswell.

"Their only predators are humans and other bears, so they don't have too many things threatening their survival,"Crabbe said.

Jackie said she wasn't frightened by the bear's appearance in her yard.She just hopesthere's no return engagement.

"That's how ithappened with moose in the area. Moose used to be uncommon and they've started to become more

common in this area," she said. "I'm hoping the bearsdon't become common."