B.C. man pleads guilty to feeding bears

A man from Christina Lake, B.C. pleaded guilty on Thursday to feeding two dozen black bears around his remote property.

Allen Piche admitted in the Grand Forks provincial courthouse that he hadfed generations of black bears that had visited his property.

Piche, a self-described "aging hippie" said his former partner began the feedings and he carried on when she was warned to stop because the bears kept coming back.

The feeding went on for years and likely would have continued had Piche not been visited by the RCMP last summer.

RCMP arrested him and three others in August of 2010for allegedly tending to a large outdoor marijuana grow-op.

The docile bears came out of the forest andnuzzled up to police officers. One even hung out on a police cruiser for a while.

Piche pleaded not guilty to running a grow-up, but admitted in court to feeding the bears.

He'll be sentenced this fall and, as with everything else in this unusual case, a precedent will likely be set.

Piche's lawyer is aware of only one other charge of feeding dangerous wildlife, which was in Whistler and resulted in a heavy fine.

Piche said he has plans for dealing with the habituated black bears this springwhen they come out of hibernation, but that he will not feed them.