The killing of a mother bear and capture of her three cubs has left many 亚洲天堂 Lake residents heartbroken, angry and in search of answers from the B.C. Conservation Office.
On the eve of June 26, 亚洲天堂 Lake Conservation Officer Jeff Palm received a phone call from a resident who said there had been a bear in the neighbourhood on East Tchesinkut Road for the last three years and that it had become increasingly bold and fearless of people.
The resident had placed the call after witnessing the bear kill a deer faun on the front lawn of the residences, according to Palm.
On the following day of June 27, Palm said he went out to East Tchesinkut Road and spoke to the caller who was at a household with two other individuals. He also spoke to another resident in another household nearby. Both persons claimed that the bear had begun to bluff charge some of the residents there. The second resident told Palm about an additional incident where the bear chased an individual off the deck.
鈥淲ith that information, I decided to set a bear trap there,鈥� said Palm.
Palm said on June 29, he captured a bear sow. This was the bear which the locals affectionately called 鈥淪cruffy.鈥� She was destroyed by the conservation officer while her three cubs hid up inside a nearby tree until they were tranquilized and taken to Northern Lights Sanctuary in Smithers.
This was upsetting to some residents and that afternoon, local resident of 20 years, Tammy Konkin arrived at the scene with a friend as Palm returned with an empty trap to prepare to tranquilize the cubs. Konkin had noticed the bear trap at the end of Glen Road a few days prior and decided to keep her eye out for the conservation officer so she could speak to him.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 really want to talk to me,鈥� said Konkin, 鈥淚 asked him 鈥榙id you phone anybody else? Are you doing this on just one phone call?鈥� And he just would not answer me.鈥�
Another upset local resident Helene Loetscher has been trying to set up an appointment with the conservation service to demand the same information as Konkin.
鈥淲hat is the policy in B.C.?鈥� said Loetscher, 鈥淚 think they should relocate but apparently, they don鈥檛. Do they really need just one person to call in and say he was attacked for the CO [conservation officer] to go out and see what happened? Because nobody saw it as a threat. Nobody else,鈥� she said.
According to Palm, relocating bears is more of a 鈥渇eel good鈥� thing and does not really provide a solution as bears will often travel back to what they know to be their homes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not been dealt with when a bear is travelling over mountain ranges, rivers and train tracks and roads just to get back to where it came from,鈥� said Palm.
Loetscher said she鈥檇 had a few sightings of the mother bear and her cubs over the last three years. On one occasion, the mother bear had gone into the lake with her cubs as Loetscher sat and watched from her lawn chair. Loetscher said that when she moved her chair and made a noise, the mother bear immediately got herself and her cubs out of the water and scurried away.
鈥淢ost of the neighbours are totally in shock. We miss her and can鈥檛 believe what happened,鈥� said Loetscher.
Dan Plante moved to 亚洲天堂 Lake six years ago. His grandmother lives on the end of the lake opposite to his residence. According to Plante, there is a barn on his grandmother鈥檚 property where the mother bear had her cubs came to graze.
鈥淲e saw these bears all the time,鈥� said Plante. 鈥淚 have biked past them with my dog about two times, and no aggression. She鈥檒l send her babies far up into the tree and we鈥檒l peddle carefully on the far side of the road,鈥� said Plante.
Plante had heard that a few people living in a cluster of year-round residences and vacation properties had witnessed a bear take a deer faun in her mouth and run across the yard of one of these residences. He wanted to know whether the call to the conservation officer was made by one of these witnesses.
鈥淲elcome to the north. You live in the bush and you鈥檙e going to have the same problem with deer and moose,鈥� said Plante.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 say that I do a background check on people to determine the validity of their complaint or if they鈥檙e in the know. When I have a series of people telling me that there is a bear issue, I believe them and when I set a trap and catch a bear within a day, I mean they鈥檙e right. There is a bear there that was willing to enter a container and take bate,鈥� said Palm.
In an email, Palm stated that the local conservation service has recorded a total of 83 nuisance bear reports within the greater 亚洲天堂 Lake area since April 1 of this year.
Many more residents have since expressed their concerns and feelings of disappointment with the way the conservation service handled the mama bear in their community.
鈥淲e are so incredibly soul sick about this. She was a lovely docile little creature. Every day that we saw them made our hearts joyous,鈥� Debra Glover, a resident of East Tchesinkut Road for 22 years, stated in an email.
Jon and Alida Bruce also wrote in an email that they were concerned for the mother bear who was killed and had her cubs taken away for no good reason.
鈥淚t should not be up to a couple of people to decide the destiny of our black bears in our community,鈥� their email stated.
