Finding their way into the kitchen of a restaurant may have seemed like the ultimate score for three hungry bears, but their pantry raid had a tragic end.
A mother bear and her two cubs found their way into the Station Two restaurant in Terrace Bay, Ontario, this past Wednesday, entering through a rear door around noon. They quickly began to pull apart containers and eat food in the back room. When employees discovered the bears, they quickly closed the door leading to the dining area and evacuated the customers, avoiding any direct interaction.
The police were called and ultimately shot the mother. The cubs were taken by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, who will bring them to a bear sanctuary.
The Station Two restaurant summarized the event on their Facebook page: “Mama bear crashed in the back door and decided to make some pizza, fast reaction from my staff, saved the restaurant.”
Bears often enter human-populated areas when they smell the promise of food. The best way to keep bears away is to keep food as sealed up as possible, and to put garbage in bear-proof containers.
People who encounter bears in human-populated areas can call the Ministry of Natural Resources Nuisance Bear hotline at 1-866-514-2327.
