A recent North Shore News article addressed the concerns of local bear advocate Christine Miller, regarding the shooting deaths by a conservation officer of a mother bear and her two cubs “after the mother had broken into four garages to get access to garbage.”
While understanding the reason for the adult bear’s death, Christine Miller was questioning why the cubs were also shot, and not transported to a qualified rehabilitation centre (Critter Care in Langley), as has been normal practice for years regarding lost, injured or orphaned bear cubs.
The shooting of these cubs is just the latest in a disturbing new trend by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, the most publicized incident being that of former conservation officer Bryce Casavant’s refusal to kill two cubs, electing instead to take them to a rescue centre on Vancouver Island.
However, COS-ordered bear cub shootings are continuing in greater numbers, but are less known. This summer has seen four cubs shot on the North Shore alone, and there are disturbing statistics from other areas indicating many more bear cub shootings.
In defending the recent shooting of cubs on the North Shore, COS Inspector Chris Doyle claimed, “Their conflict level was too high to be considered good candidates for rehabilitation.”
It would appear that the root cause of this alarming increase in the numbers of bear cub kills, is the wording of the COS policy directive to its officers, wherein they have to make a judgment call as to the suitability of the cub for rehabilitation, or to be shot.
In the original policy, qualified rehabilitation centres made this decision. Inspector Doyle is now referring to the newly changed policy when he justifies the cub killing. Doyle goes on to say, “We’re simply aligning our response to the procedure we’re receiving from provincial biologists and veterinarians.”
This explanation does not withstand scrutiny, as there are reams of scientific and field evidence by international experts attesting to the success of rehabilitating bear cubs back into the wild. Here in B.C. we have fully qualified and skilled rehabilitation centres available, all with excellent success rates. Why then are the cubs being shot?
Conservation officers are guided by a detailed matrix in deciding appropriate action when dealing with the many bear situations they encounter. At no point are cubs acknowledged, or recognized as separate entities from adult bears within the scope of the matrix. It is the feeling of the writer that, due to their youth, cubs should automatically qualify for rehabilitation rather than death.
CO’s can be spared the decision on whether to kill or save a cub, and a cub’s life saved, simply by the relevant COS policy being changed back to how it used to be; namely, allowing bear cubs to be taken to rehabilitation facilities, and the judgment as to their rehab suitability being made there.
If the killing of bear cubs repulses you, as it does the writer, make your protest heard by emailing Environment Minister Mary Polack, [email protected], demanding changes to COS policy that require cubs be taken to rehabilitation centres as a better option to shooting them.
I would also like to respond to Inspector Doyle’s comments that “The public needs to do its part in preventing conflicts… what’s frustrating to us is we’re still dealing with the same attractant issues in the same communities. Certainly on the North Shore, garbage and other attractants are readily available to bears in many areas.”
Since the 39 North Shore bear deaths in 1999, an outraged community has responded to education programs regarding bear awareness, coexistence and attractant control to a commendable degree.
It is true that some residents are still not complying with this most basic of requirements when living in bear country, but the vast majority are, and deserve recognition for this.
A long-time Deep Cove resident, Mick Webb is an advocate for the respect and fair treatment of all animals. He volunteers with the North Shore Black Bear Society, and can often be seen hanging Bear-in-Area signs in the District of North Vancouver.
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