Steven Hill
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Local Bear Aware coordinator Kris Hopping said she is concerned about a bear killed in Brackendale just before Christmas.
Cpl. Dave Ritchie of the Squamish RCMP Detachment reported a black bear had been shot and killed by an RCMP member in the 41000 block of Meadow Avenue in Brackendale on Dec. 22 in the evening.
"We were called to a residence because a person discovered a bear in their carport," said Ritchie. "An RCMP member trained in bear aversion techniques arrived on the scene and used noise makers, bean bags and rubber bullets to try and get the bear to move away from the neighbourhood."
According to Ritchie, the aversion techniques had little effect on the animal, which exhibited aggressive behaviour, gnashing teeth and pawing the ground.
RCMP members decided the bear was dangerous to people and used a shotgun to kill the animal.
Chris Doyle from the local Conservation Officer service said he was called only after the bear was killed and showed up to pick up the carcass.
Hopping said things could have been done differently and the incident could have been prevented.
"For the bear to have been in the person's carport that means there had to have been garbage there," she said. "I think from my perspective this would have never happened if there hadn't been garbage in the garage. That's the bottom line. The bear was killed because people had garbage in their garages and it was accessible."
She said the bear was probably not as dangerous as his behaviour portrayed.
"It seems odd to me, because it was late at night and I'm wondering why the bear was such a threat that it needed to be put down right away," she said. "There has never been, as far as I know, a garbage habituated bear that has injured a person. A decision was made to kill the bear without consulting the conservation officers."
Doyle stood by the RCMP decision, saying police must make those judgment calls when attending such incidents.
Hopping agreed, saying it was still unfortunate.
"What makes it worse is it could have been prevented by people taking care of their garbage," she said. "If I had been called in, I could have gotten volunteers together to canvas the area and make sure people had their garbage secure. The bear would have just moved on then."
