B.C. mayor wants answers why 60 bears shot
By John Colebourn, Postmedia News
An abundance of food at lower elevations on the North Shore in recent years has produced a population boom in the black bear population, which is causing bears to change their feeding behaviours.
Photograph by: Michelle Stevens, The Province
VANCOUVER — The mayor of Castlegar, B.C., said Saturday his town is outraged over the record number of bears killed by conservation officers this year.
Mayor Lawrence Chernoff said the killing of 60 bears this year in the area will be a top priority when the town's council meets Monday."What are we doing killing so many bears?" Chernoff asked. "I am extremely concerned about what we are doing."
Chernoff's comments follow the killing of three more bears by conservation officers Friday afternoon.
Betty Offin, of the area's Bear Aware program, says last year Bear Aware fielded 84 complaints, while so far this year they have had more than 170 calls. Conservation officers in the region claim they only destroy animals that are aggressive and posing a threat to public safety. About a dozen bears in the area were killed in 2009.
Conservation officers did not return calls Saturday afternoon.
Chernoff said the bears appear to be looking for food that is scarce in the hills above the town, and they are concerned about the conflict getting worse as the season progresses and the animals prepare for hibernation.
Last year a bumper huckleberry crop kept the bears from ranging into town looking for food. This year poor fruit crops are making it more difficult.
"We need to sit down with the conservation officers and the RCMP," said Chernoff. "We are killing these bears. There has to be another solution."
The mayor also wants to get the message out to residents that they can do more to keep the bears away.
"This is my biggest issue — people leaving garbage out," he said.--always the cause of death to bears, coyotes, cougars, wolves---we habituate the animals by leaving out garbage uncovered or the night before pickup--blogger Rick
"We are the problem. We have a Bear Aware program but it just takes a few people — and this is something we have to deal with Monday."
Bears, unlike cougars, generally have no desire to prey on humans — the food sources they seek in the towns are usually garbage, or unharvested fruit and gardens, or pet food left outside. They only become aggressive when frightened or stressed, or to protect cubs or a food source.
Castlegar, population 7,800, is 375 kilometres east of Vancouver.
Mayor Lawrence Chernoff said the killing of 60 bears this year in the area will be a top priority when the town's council meets Monday."What are we doing killing so many bears?" Chernoff asked. "I am extremely concerned about what we are doing."
Chernoff's comments follow the killing of three more bears by conservation officers Friday afternoon.
Betty Offin, of the area's Bear Aware program, says last year Bear Aware fielded 84 complaints, while so far this year they have had more than 170 calls. Conservation officers in the region claim they only destroy animals that are aggressive and posing a threat to public safety. About a dozen bears in the area were killed in 2009.
Conservation officers did not return calls Saturday afternoon.
Chernoff said the bears appear to be looking for food that is scarce in the hills above the town, and they are concerned about the conflict getting worse as the season progresses and the animals prepare for hibernation.
Last year a bumper huckleberry crop kept the bears from ranging into town looking for food. This year poor fruit crops are making it more difficult.
"We need to sit down with the conservation officers and the RCMP," said Chernoff. "We are killing these bears. There has to be another solution."
The mayor also wants to get the message out to residents that they can do more to keep the bears away.
"This is my biggest issue — people leaving garbage out," he said.--always the cause of death to bears, coyotes, cougars, wolves---we habituate the animals by leaving out garbage uncovered or the night before pickup--blogger Rick
"We are the problem. We have a Bear Aware program but it just takes a few people — and this is something we have to deal with Monday."
Bears, unlike cougars, generally have no desire to prey on humans — the food sources they seek in the towns are usually garbage, or unharvested fruit and gardens, or pet food left outside. They only become aggressive when frightened or stressed, or to protect cubs or a food source.
Castlegar, population 7,800, is 375 kilometres east of Vancouver.
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