Animal Advocates Watchdog
BC man shoots grizzly, cubs after failing to put up fence to protect livestock
By Larry Pynn, Vancouver SunJune 29, 2010
VANCOUVER - A Bella Coola Valley resident, criticized by provincial conservation officers for failing to put up an electric fence to protect his chickens, hunted down a mother grizzly bear before turning his sights on her three newborn cubs.
The man shot the mother first, then two of the cubs who were run up a tree by his dogs, according to freedom of information documents involving cases in 2009 in which grizzlies were shot in supposed defence of people or property in B.C.
The third cub is believed to have died later because it was too young to survive on its own, raising the family death toll to four.
The shooting spree — the second that year involving the shooting of three grizzlies in the Bella Coola Valley — highlights the continuing problem of grizzly-human conflicts in the central coast community and the continuing failure of the provincial conservation officer service to post an officer there on a permanent basis.
The documents include a Sept. 3 e-mail from Mike Krause, senior conservation officer for the Cariboo, indicating his office is prepared to respond to only the most extreme problems.
“We are not prepared to send anyone out to the Bella Coola Valley until we have an urgent human wildlife conflict case to attend to; in fact, looking at our calendars we are going to be challenged on the staffing front for the next month.”
On Dec. 18, Tom Clark, executive director of the B.C. environment ministry’s compliance division, wrote to North Coast NDP MLA Gary Coons saying: “Bella Coola is a remote community with very few amenities which results in making it difficult to attract experienced staff to take a posting there.
“Given the nature of the dangerous work involved in dealing with human/wildlife conflict, it is not a location where the employer can justify posting an inexperienced officer.” The posting has been vacant since May 2008.
On Feb. 10, 2010, the Central Coast Regional District wrote to Clark urging the ministry to immediately post a full-time conservation officer to Bella Coola, noting the “high rate of human-wildlife interaction” in the area.
No action has been taken to date, says Brian Lande, who represents the community of Hagensborg on the regional district. “It’s a bunch of hogwash,” he said of the government’s excuse. “It’s all financial.”
Joy MacKay, the district chief administrative officer, said the ministry has approved funding for a Bear Aware educational program, which, “while potentially beneficial, cannot replace a full-time conservation officer.”
It’s not unusual for private individuals and conservation officers to kill 50 to 60 such grizzlies per year in defence of people and property across B.C.
But the deaths of four grizzlies in a single case is highly unusual.
The Bella Coola killing started on July 26 of last year in Hagensborg.
“He pursued the bears for approximately 300 metres nearing his property line....” the conservation officer’s report states. “Three cubs were treed by his dogs all in the same tree.
“The sow appeared to fall after he shot. He then shot a cub causing it to fall out of the tree. The two other cubs escaped as a result of the shot and were unable to be located.”
Three days later, the man’s dogs treed the two remaining “newborn cubs;” he shot another one, which he “tossed into the chuck.” The third bear is believed to have also died, too young to survive on its own.
In their report, conservation officers are critical of the resident for not putting up an electric fence and for not “taking ownership of husbandry practices on his property to prevent problems like this from continually occurring,” and they say “enforcement action should be pursued.”
No one from the B.C. Ministry of Environment would immediately comment.
The Coast Mountain News, a twice-weekly community newspaper in the Bella Coola Valley, published a letter June 24 from another area resident who had been involved in the shooting of grizzlies. “Unfortunately, there is a rumour in the valley that people need to deal with the problem themselves, i.e. the three ‘S’ method of Shoot-Shovel-and Shut Up,” writes D. Glen Johnson. “Please be aware that this is not the lawful and moral way to deal with these issues.”
He adds: “Conflict wildlife problems usually arise because of attractants and/or food sources. Attractants include but are not limited to: fruit trees, berry bushes, clover, gardens, livestock, compost, and garbage. Once an animal becomes habituated and food conditioned, they become a nuisance and sometimes a safety issue. These problems can be reduced and/or eliminated by conducting diligent husbandry practices and proactive attractant management.”
In an interview with The Sun, Johnson said he shot three grizzlies in self-defence last fall (he can’t recall the exact date), but failed to report the incident as required under the Wildlife Act. Johnson said he has also committed to paying up to $1,000 for an information sign related to problem wildlife in the valley as part of a restorative justice program.
“I’d gone out to feed the horse and this bear reared up in front of me about 10 feet away and started for me,” Johnson said. “I shot it. The second one popped up just a couple of feet from the bush from it. I knew the third one was out there, but I didn’t know where. I started back to the shop and I saw it coming, so I shot it as well. They were all giant bears.”
A Bella Coola Valley resident, criticized by provincial conservation officers for failing to put up an electric fence to protect his chickens, hunted down a mother grizzly bear before turning his sights on her three newborn cubs.
Photograph by: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
