Hundreds of bears are being killed every year in B.C. by the provincial Conservation Officer Service (COS), an B次元官网网址渦nacceptableB次元官网网址� amount, according to Aaron Hofman, director of advocacy and policy at the The Fur-Bearers, a wildlife charity that aims to protects fur-bearing animals.
Hofman was reacting to the decision to put down a female black bear after it walked through downtown Langley on Sunday, Sept. 24.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e looking at a broken system where this is the status quo,B次元官网网址� Hofman told the Langley Advance Times, B次元官网网址渨here hundreds of bears are being killed every year.B次元官网网址�
Hofman pointed to posted online that show officers killed 151 black bears in August, a sharp rise compared to the next highest August in 2011, when 91 bears were killed.
Hofman said a B次元官网网址渃ombination of factorsB次元官网网址� is to blame.
B次元官网网址淭he impact of the fires and drought this summer might be pushing bears into more urban areas,B次元官网网址� he suggested.
B次元官网网址淎nd then of course, more preventable things, like municipalities not having proper bylaws in place, not having effective waste Management programs, such as wildlife resistant garbage bins.B次元官网网址�
Hofman is calling for a tougher approach to keep people from feeding wild animals, something that was cited as a possible factor in the Langley incident.
B次元官网网址淲e need to see enforcement,B次元官网网址� Hofman commented.
B次元官网网址淲e need to see bylaws at the local level, but we also need to see the COS taking a stand against wildlife feeding by issuing tickets. We see disproportionate numbers of bears being killed versus the number of tickets that are being issued. We really do need to see the COS take more preventative measures.B次元官网网址�
Langley Advance Times has reached out to COS for comment.
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In an unsigned statement issued in response to a previous query, COS said the bear had been relocated from Coquitlam in mid-August, but returned to a B次元官网网址渉igh-density urban setting only weeks later.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淒uring this time, conservation officers also received multiple reports of this bear accessing non-natural food sources, such as garbage. In addition, another report was received alleging this bear was being fed by people. The COS is actively investigating these feeding allegations.B次元官网网址�
COS stats show seven bears were B次元官网网址渢ranslocatedB次元官网网址� that month, the most since 2012, when nine were relocated.
Multiple social media posts tracked the movement of the female bear, who was seen walking near near the Home Depot hardware store, a motel, and the Willowbrook shopping centre in downtown Langley before she was captured in a residential buildingB次元官网网址檚 visitor parking, around 11:30 a.m.
Resident Allie Wilkinson recorded the capture on video.
B次元官网网址淚 actually just feel kind of bad for her,B次元官网网址� Wilkinson commented. B次元官网网址淚 mean, she was just looking for somewhere to go, for something to eat.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚t just seems so sad because watching the videos, she was just wandering through the parking lot, coming in the backyard. She was just doing bear things.B次元官网网址�
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