Do more to protect people from nuisance bears: MPP

A northern Ontario mans near-death experience at the claws of a bear in Mayis prompting provincial staff to find a new way to deal with nuisance bears.

But those changes will come too late for Cochrane resident Joe Azougar, whowas eating breakfast outside his cabin when he was attacked.

The bear came toward Azougar, afterkilling two of his chickens andhis German Shepherd dog. The doghad jumped to defend its owner.

Despite Azougars attempt toescape, the bear caught up with him and knocked him over.

"He started chipping with his side teeth at my skull I could feel the bones just being chipped away," he said.

Finally, two local women came to his rescue, honking the horn on their vehicle, which scaredthe bear away.

Azougar has returned to his computer job since the incident, but said he will require years of physiotherapy to deal with the damage caused by the attack.

'MNR needs to be responsible'

The Ministry of Natural Resourcesstopped relocating nuisance bears last year, saying it has gathered evidence that its a waste of time since relocated bears often just make their way back.

As of last summer,calls about nuisance bears go to the Ontario Provincial Police, the group that was formerly on-call for emergency bear situations.

But thatwas not an acceptable solutionfor John Vanthof, the New Democrat MPP for Timiskaming-Cochrane, the region where Azougar had his bear encounter.

Vanthofraised the incident inQueens Park, demanding a solution from the province.

"If moving bears isn't working, then maybe the MNR needs to be responsible for doing what works with bears," he said.

The province still runs a hotline where people can call to get tips on bear safety, and says the Ministry of Natural Resourcesis looking into other ways to deal with nuisance bear issues.

Azougar said people still think bear attacks on human "do not happen."

"I urge you, just go on Google, click news and type in bear attack," he said. "You'll be surprised."