‘Reverse Goldilocks’ Bear Highlights a Deadly Ucluelet Problem

Brandon Halvorson was on vacation when a black bear popped off the plastic cover to his dog door, squeezed through the hole and ate $500 worth of freezer food in his Ucluelet home — plus about an ounce of weed.

After looking over his power bill, Halvorson thinks the food-conditioned bear likely came into his home on July 17 or 18.

“I was calling it the reverse Goldilocks because he tested out the spare bedroom, the couch and my bed and chose my bed to eat the raspberries and bear meat,” said Halvorson, who weighs 96 kilograms and demonstrated how a bear could indeed fit through the dog door.

Halvorson says when he returned from a trip to Dawson Creek on July 22 his house smelled like a rotting animal and his freezer door was open.

“The drawers and ice cube trays were yard-saled all over the kitchen,” he said, noting that the bear didn’t do any damage or dent the freezer. It just left footprints, scratch marks and hair.

“I was wondering why he didn’t hang around,” Halvorson continued. “He didn’t touch the pantry and cupboard, and he didn’t open the fridge. Then I remembered I keep my weed in my freezer. I think it’s the weed that saved us. He probably got so paranoid and had to get the hell out. I can’t think of another reason he left half of the food behind.”

Bears are paying the price

Halvorson’s house was burglarized by a bear about 10 days after B.C. conservation officers killed three food-conditioned black bears over two days in the Ucluelet area. Conservation officers shot and killed a fourth bear on Aug. 4 at a campground near Ucluelet.

“The bear displayed food-conditioned behaviour, including accessing tents in search of food,” reads a statement from the Conservation Officer Service.

“Due to public safety concerns, bears with a conflict history that no longer fear people are not candidates for relocation or rehabilitation. In accordance with provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines, COs dispatched the bear to ensure public safety,” the statement continued.

Halvorson says in the 17 years he’s lived in Ucluelet, he’s never seen bears behave in such extreme ways. He thinks the bears have “decoded” the supposedly secure garbage and organic bins provided to residents and that garbage pickups should be weekly, not every two weeks.

A flopping residential cart system

According to a report prepared by Bob Hansen at WildSafeBC, “the nature and trend of the documented human-bear conflicts on the west coast has changed since the implementation of the residential cart system in the Fall of 2022.”

Hansen reports that in 2023, conflict bears shifted from common attractants and started to focus on garbage, organics and recycling carts.

“This behaviour progressed and the number of food-conditioned bears increased throughout the year 2023,” Hansen wrote.

Flash-forward to the summer of 2025, and the number of cart conflicts continues to climb. There have been reports of food-conditioned bears learning to break brass clips, tearing apart lids and a sow teaching her cubs how to break into the carts, “illustrating the process of generational learning,” Hansen reports.

Ucluelet mayor and council discussed the human-bear conflict during a July 22 meeting after receiving a letter from resident Robyn Mair, who suggested Ucluelet move away from curbside pickup to a centralized, communal waste drop-off location like other resort communities such as Whistler and Banff.

Coun. Mark Maftei called centralizing garbage a “red herring” and that the main problem is “people ignoring the rules.”

Maftei, who is the executive director of the Raincoast Education Society, put forward the idea of composting less during the summer months to reduce bear conflict and fining “repeat offenders” into compliance.

“I could list 45 culprits. There needs to be fines. Start issuing fines,” reiterated Coun. Mayco Noel.

“We need 100 per cent compliance,” said Coun. Jennifer Hoar, who reported that a bear “nosed into the tea shop” in the middle of the day.

Ucluelet bylaw officer Brittney Willms issued 21 warning notices to residents in the last week of July for failing to secure waste. The written warning gives the residents two weeks to fix the situation or face a fine up to $300.

“Furthermore, if your situation results in attracting a bear onto your property, then whether or not the bear is killed, you may receive additional penalties under the provincial Wildlife Act,” reads a portion of the warning letter from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District’s solid waste manager, Paulo Eichelberger.

The regional district provides garbage and recycling pickups every two weeks to residents in Tofino, Ucluelet and surrounding Nuu-chah-nulth communities. Organics are collected weekly. A message to waste manager Eichelberger was not returned.

The Conservation Officer Service says it has not issued any violation tickets in relation to the recent bear incidents. Under B.C.’s Wildlife Act there is a $575 violation ticket for feeding wild animals.

Reducing the risks

WildSafeBC Pacific Rim community co-ordinator Chris Read meets regularly with Ucluelet bylaw staff and the regional district to help reduce wildlife attractants and keep bins secure.

Ideally, Read said, the carts need to be kept inside until garbage pickup or anchored. Replacing brass carabiners with stronger steel carabiners to close the bins has also been effective, according to WildSafeBC, and freezing organics before collection day helps reduce the smell.

“Bears are smart. Bears are strong. Once they associate one bin having food and having a good reward, now they know the skill and they can use that and go down the street,” said Read.

“I know it’s not the best system, but it’s what we have right now. We’re just trying to use what funding we have to make it better to see if we can reduce the learning of new bears into our community,” he said. “As we know, they get killed, they get conditioned, there is a long pathway that leads them to that.”

Crosswalks and storefronts along Ucluelet’s Peninsula Road were recently vandalized with painted red bears with wings. It’s uncertain why the “angel bears” appeared, but many locals think they serve as a public reminder to be diligent with garbage or more bears will end up dead.