Port Alice is proud to be known for its rugged, outdoor beauty, its quiet, anti-city lifestyle, and its plentiful wildlife.
It does not want a reputation for being the place where they kill bears.
August is not yet four weeks old and four black bears have been euthanized this month due to what the Village of Port Alice is calling the laziness of its residents.
The village recently posted on its social media account that the reason B次元官网网址渓ies 100 per cent with our own community.B次元官网网址�
The post added while there is lots of talk about becoming a bear smart community, B次元官网网址渢hat will only be successful if we, as a community, take responsibility for our own actions, and take some extra time to educate ourselves, neighbours, and visitors to the area. Laziness is the leading cause of death for these bears and regardless of what tools we use to collect the attractants, bears will continue to die if humans do not take responsibility for their actions.B次元官网网址�
Port Alice has a population of a little over 700 people and is located in Quatsino First Nation traditional territory on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. Seeing bears around the village is a natural occurrence thatB次元官网网址檚 largely unavoidable.
What isnB次元官网网址檛 unavoidable, however, is making sure youB次元官网网址檙e not leaving out food attractants that will cause bear conflicts.
Steve Petrovic, a conservation officer for the North Island Zone (which covers a vast area from the Comox Valley all the way to Bella Bella), says attractants are what ultimately caused the recent euthanizations.
B次元官网网址淧eople are not securing their garbage in a proper manner,B次元官网网址� he confirmed, B次元官网网址渁nd there are other attractants in the community, such as some people still having bird feeders out and other folks putting things in their compost that can be an attractant, but I would say the number one violation is how garbage is being managed.B次元官网网址�
Petrovic said the villageB次元官网网址檚 garbage contractor had a mechanical equipment failure that B次元官网网址渦ltimately influenced the frequency of which those commercial bins would be picked up and emptied.B次元官网网址�
He found all the bins he inspected to be functioning properly, but several were overflowing and people were placing garbage over top of them and beside them.
B次元官网网址淓ven when they were empty, we still had people who were too lazy to ensure that the locking mechanism was engaged so that the top of the bin canB次元官网网址檛 just be pushed up and accessed by a bear. The bears became accustomed to essentially walking through the middle of town and finding garbage to rip open and feed on.B次元官网网址�
This led to the bears walking onto peopleB次元官网网址檚 decks, pushing on doors, and then going into carports and accessing deep freezers to get at the frozen meat inside.
B次元官网网址淲hen a bear has progressed to the point where itB次元官网网址檚 desensitized and has habitual behaviour, unfortunately the CO service has to make the decision that itB次元官网网址檚 not a relocation candidate,B次元官网网址� he added.
This is when the animals have to be destroyed.
Petrovic said officers will be giving out warning letters, violation tickets, and formal orders for residents to remove attractants. If they still donB次元官网网址檛 see compliance, action can be escalated even further.
B次元官网网址淲e certainly have the option of pushing the matter into provincial court so the person or party can stand up before a judge and explain why they made the choices they made that put both people and bears at risk.B次元官网网址�
However, itB次元官网网址檚 not all bad news. There are some people in the community of Port Alice who are very passionate about wanting to keep bears safe. Petrovic said he was B次元官网网址渧ery impressed by the actions of [those] individuals.B次元官网网址�
Finally, he wanted to make it clear that conservation officers do not enjoy having to euthanize animals.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 extremely frustrating to have to destroy an otherwise healthy animal that has been influenced by bad human behaviourB次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 the least favourite part of any COB次元官网网址檚 job.B次元官网网址�
Port Alice mayor Kevin Cameron wasnB次元官网网址檛 immediately available for comment.
editor@northislandgazette.com
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