Your Edmonton Journal
Endangered bear shot
CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, May 19, 2007
PRINCE GEORGE - The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says a rare, white Kermode bear was shot and killed in Northwestern B.C. earlier this week. The bear, an endangered species, also known as a spirit bear, was found along Highway 37, south of Kitwanga.
Because of their endangered status, Kermode bears are protected from hunting.
Conservation officer Brent Crack says a Kermode has been spotted in the area for the past several years and is popular with tourists.
He can't say if that is the bear which has been found dead but he fears that may be the case.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
Your Vancouver Sun
No grisly end for Butterscotch
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, May 19, 2007
A grizzly that has been wandering through downtown Squamish has been caught and relocated, but it's possible it will be back in town soon.
Conservation officers found the animal Thursday night in a snare baited with fish on a trail in the Squamish estuary adjacent to the community.
"He was fairly calm at that point and it was easy to walk within the range we needed to walk into and put the dart into him," said conservation officer Chris Doyle.
After being tranquilized, the bear, nicknamed Butterscotch, spent the night in a culvert trap on wheels for easy transportation.
Doyle said the three-year-old male has a "conflict history" and was also caught last August after getting into garbage left behind by partiers in the upper Squamish valley.
On Friday, conservation officers tried the same strategy they did last summer, relocating the bear to his home range about 100 kilometres away in the Elaho Valley.
Doyle said although the stress of his capture might deter him from returning, the bear could come back, attracted by garbage to which he became accustomed that was left by careless campers.
Fish and wildlife biologist Steve Rochetta said it's not an option to relocate the young grizzly to another area because he wouldn't know where to forage for food and could disturb -- or be killed by -- existing bears.
Rochetta said he's "hoping against hope" that he never sees the bear in the town of Squamish again, or it may have to be destroyed. But he wouldn't be surprised if the bear has lost his fear of humans.
"It's really up to the campers in the area and the residents in the area to retain their garbage," Doyle said. "That's what's going to lead to further conflicts with this bear and other bears."
Doyle said while the bear is the same one that has been spotted around downtown Squamish since Wednesday, recent sightings of grizzlies could be any of a number of bears that frequent the area.
Simon Fraser University criminology Prof. Ehor Boyanowsky and his son encountered a grizzly while they were fly-fishing in the valley about 32 kilometres from Squamish, and a grizzly was seen strolling through a campsite near Squamish earlier this month. No one has been hurt.
There hasn't been a grizzly in the town of Squamish for at least 10 years, Doyle said, but careless garbage management, increasing development in bear territory, and this year's snowpack are all driving bears closer to people.
"The Squamish estuary is excellent bear habitat," Doyle said. "If it wasn't right next to downtown Squamish it would be fine for a bear to be there."
Your Calgary Herald
Bears treasure Kelowna's trash
The Canadian Press
Published: Saturday, May 19, 2007
The city's new, wheeled garbage containers are proving to be a dangerous buffet for bears, says a Kamloops conservation officer frustrated by a recent spate of bear trouble.
Kelly Dahl said earlier this week that he was called to a complaint after a bear pushed its way into a house through a sun deck door to dine on cat food and oatmeal inside.
The small bear, which has been hanging around the neighbourhood for the last six weeks, was chased off by neighbours. The owners of the house were not home at the time.
Dahl said this bear is becoming bolder and less afraid of people because he has developed a taste for garbage.
It's easy to find this spring, partly because of the new garbage carts.
The carts, introduced citywide last summer, brought uniformity to the city's collection program and eased the work for garbage collectors. But more people are storing the large wheeled receptacles outside, meaning more garbage is available to bears this year than in past seasons.
© The Calgary Herald 2007