Black bears guard marijuana fields
Police raiding two marijuana fields near the US-Canadian border found more than a dozen black bears wandering around the crops.
Published: 9:20AM BST 19 Aug 2010
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Police photographed with one of the 14 wild black bears that were guarding an illegal marijuana growing operation Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Police uncovered two separate outdoor marijuana crops of about 2,300 plants near Christina Lake, just a few kilometres from the Canada-U.S. border Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The fields of about 2,300 plants were found near Christina Lake, just a few miles from the border.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Dan Moskaluk says that when police arrived in the area two weeks ago, they discovered the bears and cautiously went about making the seizure. However he said the bears were docile and obviously were used to humans. They could be put down if they are too habituated to people. “They were tame, they just sat around watching.
At one point one of the bears climbed onto the hood of a police car, sat there for a bit and then jumped off,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Fred Mansveld. The property’s two owners were arrested on charges of production and possession of a controlled substance. It is unclear if they used the bears to guard the pot fields or just liked having them as pets.
