Dwelling alongside bears in British Columbia might be one of the crucial enchanting issues about this province. However when one of many creatures results in somebody’s rubbish or takes to threatening people, greatest apply requires alerting a conservation officer.
Some residents of Vancouver Island aren’t eager to try this once more.
Justine Hunter reviews as we speak that bear advocates are calling for better oversight of the conservation service after a report variety of bears had been killed by officers final yr. A type of bears was an orphan cub that wandered to the aspect of a freeway close to the oceanside neighborhood of Deep Bay on Dec. 21.
The thin cub approached Kim Cooper’s automobile, taking a look at her. Ms. Cooper and different motorists had stopped and fashioned a human chain to corral the cub off the street and into the bush. They known as the conservation service. Ms. Cooper felt that they had saved the cub’s life.
However the conservation officers who arrived quickly after noticed the younger, injured and emaciated bear in a ditch and shot the animal.
“That animal was struggling. It was not a candidate for rehabilitation,” mentioned Conservation Officer Service spokesperson Inspector Drew Milne, who oversees the West Coast area for the province.
Space residents had been horrified. Justine accompanied seasoned bear information Eric Boyum as he looked for a second cub, believed to be a sibling of the one shot final month.
“If we discover it, I wish to maintain it protected and discover somebody who would assist it,” Mr. Boyum mentioned.
So does that imply avoiding the conservation service?
It’s unlawful to own wildlife in B.C. with out a allow. An animal in misery should be dealt with by a conservation officer.
There have been 598 bears put down by the conservation service within the first 11 months of final yr (December figures will not be but out there). In 2021 and 2022, the service killed 484 and 497 bears, respectively.
The service acquired 1000’s extra calls to reply to bears in 2023 than it did in both of the earlier two years. The information present that previously three years, roughly one out of each 4 or 5 responses by the conservation service resulted in a useless bear.
Chris Darimont, science director of the Raincoast Basis and a professor of conservation science on the College of Victoria, mentioned the excessive variety of human-bear conflicts final yr might have been pushed by in depth drought and wildfires, which have diminished meals provides. “Bears are likely to take extra possibilities when they’re hungry, and generally that results in battle with people,” he mentioned.
As a consequence, the province’s three amenities the place bears might be rehabilitated are bursting on the seams, he added.
Bear advocates say it’s time for better scrutiny of the Conservation Officer Service. Its tradition has been below the microscope earlier than: Two years in the past, Globe reporter Nancy Macdonald wrote an in-depth story that examined the firing of a conservation officer who refused to shoot two orphaned cubs. In Could, 2022, a legislative committee really helpful the creation of an impartial company to supervise all police and security personnel within the province, together with the COS. That company nonetheless doesn’t exist.
Within the meantime, the COS has began sending severe allegations of misconduct to an out of doors, impartial regulation agency for evaluation.
“We must be in search of non-lethal methods of coping with managing wildlife that come into our communities,” mentioned Karen McAllister, government director of the conservation group Pacific Wild.
This article by Wendy Cox and Mark Iype was first revealed by The Globe and Mail on 13 January 2024. Lead Picture:
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