B.C. bear caught on camera stealing golf bag
Early Monday evening, a group of golfers at Westwood Plateau witnessed a black bear remove a golfer’s bag from a cart and drag it into a steep ravine.
Karim Lalani captured the moment on video. He tells CTV News it happened on the 12th hole, and the bear took a keen interest in a golfer’s bag that belonged to the group ahead of him. He says it appeared to be a mama bear looking for food for her cubs.
"Ninety per cent of the time they just mind their own business,” said Lalani. “But when I saw it rip into the bag I said, ‘Okay this one's a little bit aggressive,’ and that's when I started backing away our cart from theirs and make a run for it if we have to."
Lalani says most of the golfer’s clubs appeared to fall out of the bag as the bear dragged it away.
An employee with Westwood Plateau says bear sightings are common, but in his five years working at the course, he’s never seen anything quite like this.
"We try our best to minimize all contact with members and bears,” said Jeff Peterson, a Westwood Plateau ambassador, who says employees are trained to deal with bears, with some equipped with bear bangers and air horns. “I know they're not going anywhere and we're not going anywhere and we're just going to try and make everybody live in peace together, hopefully."
Peterson says he believes the same mama bear and her cubs were spotted earlier that day playing on a tee box and a fairway.
Peterson adds that he’s never heard of a bear on the course attacking a golfer, and that witnessing wildlife is part of the experience of playing the mountain course. Employees at the course are making efforts to retrieve the bag, according to Peterson.
Lalani says though the experience was startling, he won’t be deterred from playing there again. Also, he says he’s been contacted by several media outlets across North America.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
BREAKING Suspect sought after man found injured in downtown Toronto dies in hospital
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man who was found with life-threatening injuries in downtown Toronto on Sunday morning succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
Cyclist issued fine for striking four-year-old girl crossing the street
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Potentially toxic chemicals hide in our drinking water and countless household objects, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Police investigating after tow trucks shot at in Scarborough two hours apart
Toronto police are investigating after tow trucks were shot at in Scarborough about two hours apart Saturday night.
BREAKING 37-year-old dies following Sault police shooting
Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating after a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer shot a 37-year-old in the city’s west end on Saturday night.
U.K. foreign secretary says halting arms sales to Israel would only strengthen Hamas
Asked whether the U.K. would follow the U.S. in threatening to cut the supply of offensive weapons to Israel if it carried out an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the two countries cannot be compared because unlike the U.S., Britain supplies a very small amount of Israel's weapons.