A B.C.-based wildlife charity says it continues to be concerned about the number of black bears killed by conservation officers in the province.
Last year was an especially deadly one for the mammals, with 603 put down, according to data obtained by the Fur-Bearers through a Freedom of Information request. That's 68 more than the annual average of 535 since 2015, when the Fur-Bearers began tracking the numbers.
The group's executive director, Lesley Fox, said part of the sudden jump may be attributable to 2023's record-breaking wildfire season, which would have displaced wildlife and possibly reduced their natural food sources, sending them to urban areas to look for alternatives. There, attractants are a constant issue.
Fox said unsecured garbage, outdoor pet food, untended fruit trees and greasy barbecues can all draw bears into a person's property, increasing the likelihood of some kind of conflict or the bear become too habituated.
If the BC Conservation Officer Service then determines the bear poses some kind of threat to public safety, it may decide to put it down. This includes if a bear no longer fears humans or is relying on food from urban areas, in which case the BCCOS says they can no longer be relocated or rehabilitated.
Because that final decision rests with them, Fox said she believes the officers are ultimately responsible for the number of black bear deaths, regardless of wildfires or attractants. In her view, the BCCOS has adopted a "cavalier" approach to killing the animals.
"The Conservation Officer Service in the past has said that no officer likes killing a bear. And I'm not suggesting that they do. But what I will suggest is that they keep doing it."
In a statement to Black Press Media, BCCOS said "Conservation Officers have the knowledge, training, and compassion to make decisions in the field, however difficult, when it comes to animal welfare and public safety."
It added that the 603 bears killed last year represented only 2.2 per cent of the 27,000 black bear reports BCCOS received.
That answer is unsatisfying to Fox who said the life of every bear should be valued.
She wants to see more resources from the province to enforce the Wildlife Act, which prohibits people from attracting wild animals. Fox said municipalities also have a role to play in regulating attractants.
Some already have.
Throughout B.C., 13 municipalities are recognized as Bear Smart Communities. The voluntary provincial initiative asks communities to meet a number of criteria, including reviewing past bear-human conflicts, developing strategies to reduce the potential for repeats, educating residents, developing and maintaining a bear-proof waste management system and implementing bylaws that prohibit attracting bears.
In the past, the Fur-Bearers have been able to hone in on how municipal initiatives or the lack there of have impacted black bear deaths because their Freedom of Information request broke down the numbers by region. This year, however, the group was told that BCCOS couldn't provide community-level data anymore.
Instead, the 2023 request included the total number of bear deaths and just the top 10 communities where the most bears were killed.
Black Press Media asked the BCCOS about it's inability to provide more data, but did not hear back as of publication.
Fox said having a complete regional breakdown is important for their group to be able to get a full picture of the situation and compare it to past years. For instance, if there was a community that never saw any bears killed and suddenly had multiple deaths in one year, the Fur-Bearers would want to be able to review what happened there.
Because conservation officers use a firearm to euthanize the bears, Fox said it is also important to her to know where guns are being fired and how often.
She said she believes deaths could be greatly reduced if doing so was made more of a priority.
"We just need the political will to do it.香蕉视频直播�
