Your Province

Mother grizzly and her two cubs shot by homeowner
Young bears were eating garbage on mobile-home deck

Stuart Hunter, The Province
Published: Friday, November 03, 2006

The shooting of a grizzly sow and two cubs near Nelson is being called a serious loss to the local bear population.

The mother grizzly and two cubs -- a female and a male -- were shot on Oct. 23 as they fed on garbage left on the deck of a mobile home. The homeowner told authorities he felt his family was threatened, so he shot them through an open window.

"The family was in their trailer, and they looked out and one of the cubs was right on the deck getting into the garbage, and the fellow brought out his rifle and shot the first cub through the window, and it dropped right there," said Joanne Siderius of the B.C. Conservation Foundation's Bear Aware program. "Then he shot the second cub, and it ran about 30 feet before it died.

"The sow refused to leave, and he ended up shooting her and she ran off into the woods."

Conservation officers were unable to find the sow, which is believed to have died.

The deaths are considered a serious loss to the south Selkirk grizzly population of about 60 -- especially considering it removed a breeding female and a female cub.

"It's a fairly serious loss," Siderius said. "The south Selkirk population is considered a recovery area."

Grizzlies are endangered in B.C., but the wildlife act permits people to shoot them if they feel threatened.

Siderius lamented the loss of the bears, which were due to go into hibernation, adding people need to be more careful in bear country.

"The conservation officers had asked us to go door-to-door and talk to people, but you can't hit every house," she said. "We live in bear country; we need to learn how to live with bears."

Siderius reminded people not to leave garbage or pet food out and not leave freezers on decks.

The B.C.-wide grizzly population is estimated at 13,000 to 17,000.