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A third grizzly in a family of four well-known bears in the West Kootenay has been killed.
A sow and three yearlings attracted attention in the community of Nelson as they travelled throughout the community.
Wildlife officials said they had become a danger as they were habituated to humans and rummaged through yards and garbage.
The mother bear, which had previously been relocated from Nelson and returned, was killed earlier this month as was one of its yearlings, which the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said was not a suitable candidate for relocation due to its age and health. The young bear walked with a limp, either from injury or deformity.
The two other yearlings, a male and female, were relocated but soon turned up again in the community of Christina Lake.
While the female has since moved on, officials say the male continued to frequent residential neighbourhoods and was deemed unsuitable for a second relocation attempt.
The service said Thursday that “the male yearling was dispatched, in accordance with provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines.”
Poor food sources
Provincial wildlife biologist Garth Mowat said the “bears were really habituated to people.”
“We had lots of good indication that the bears had been eating human food for most years of their lives. We did this translocation as kind of a last effort and a hope that these bears would revert to wild food and we could save part of the family group.”
Andrew Milne with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said killing bears is only used as a last resort.
“Killing wildlife in the name of public safety takes a toll on all these officers,” he said. “We don’t take these decisions lightly and we try to do as much as we can with what we have.”
Mowat said with drought conditions throughout the B.C. Interior, berry crops are poor and more bears will be looking to come into communities in search of food. Officials are once again warning people to remove any possible attractants including fruit trees, garbage and bird feeders in order to prevent human-wildlife conflict.
