Ao WuWu Says a Black Bear Family Raided a Freezer Behind Their Home in the Canadian Mountains

V4MIRAI — Ao WuWu, the V4Mirai streamer who lives in the mountains of Canada, spent a Japanese-language stream on Friday telling viewers how a mother black bear and her cubs raided a freezer outside the house. The streamer had skipped the previous two days, and opened by thanking viewers who had sent worried replies, saying everyone was safe.

According to the streamer, a home security camera alerted them one afternoon while they were chatting with a friend. The footage showed the bear pushing aside a heavy bag of garden soil on top of a freezer in an outbuilding behind the house. The lock had been left undone. Ao WuWu said the bears, American black bears, a common and comparatively low-risk species in North America, were probably preparing for winter, and that the freezer sat just on the other side of a wall from the kitchen. Ao WuWu spoke to the bears through the camera’s speaker, asking in English what they were doing there, then let out a growl. The mother stared at the camera for about a minute, and the household’s corgi barked at the bears throughout. They stayed about 20 minutes. Ao WuWu called a government bear-reporting line and the police, and officers who arrived 20 to 30 minutes later helped carry the remaining food indoors.

“Don’t feed them Häagen-Dazs. Those guys only eat expensive stuff.” — Ao WuWu, on bear safety

Ao WuWu then ran a guessing game with viewers on what the bears had eaten. The answer was fish, about two frozen pizzas, food waste and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. It turned out to belong to a family member, not to Ao WuWu, who said the chocolate flavor would have been bad for the bears. The streamer said a small tub costs about 5 to 6 Canadian dollars. The bears came back around 2 a.m. the next morning, tried to look through a glass door at food that had been moved indoors, and appeared around the front of the house about six times the following day. Ao WuWu described one cub climbing a large tree and rubbing its back against it.

The streamer then went through bear safety as they understood it: never leave food or garbage outside, lock storage, don’t run, and don’t play dead. Walk backward slowly while talking to the bear, stay indoors and keep pets inside. Bear spray can linger on walls for months and should be used with care. Ao WuWu said shooting the bears was not an option, because Canadian law requires licenses to own firearms and hunt, and because the animals are protected. Ao WuWu said the bears had returned only once on the day of the stream and added: “Don’t feed wild animals.”

Near the end, viewers’ Super Chats arrived, two in all. Ao WuWu thanked them and joked about eating a chocolate Häagen-Dazs the next day. The next stream, Ao WuWu said, will be a study session on internet memes and slang.