Prince George named ‘deadliest’ place for black bears in B.C. by advocacy group | 24CA News
Prince George has topped the listing of probably the most harmful locations for black bears in British Columbia in 2022, in line with a wildlife advocacy group.
The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals, also called Fur-Bearers, introduced Tuesday that the northern B.C. metropolis is among the many eight “deadliest communities” for black bears within the province, based mostly on knowledge obtained by means of freedom of knowledge requests from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
In 2022, conservation officers in Prince George put down 32 black bears, 21 in Nelson, and 14 in Castlegar.
Twelve bears have been put down every in Okanagan Falls, Revelstoke and West Kelowna. Ten bears every have been put down in Nanaimo and Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.
These eight areas accounted for 1 / 4 of the five hundred black bears killed in complete in B.C. final 12 months, experiences Fur-Bearers, which checked out knowledge from 400 communities throughout the province.
It’s the second 12 months the group has revealed knowledge on black bears killed by conservation officers, and Prince George is the one metropolis to look among the many high throughout each years.
In 2021, 36 bears have been killed within the northern B.C. metropolis, and in line with Fur-Bearers knowledge, among the many practically 4,300 black bears put down in B.C. between 2015 to 2022, 236 have been in Prince George — probably the most recorded within the province for that point interval.
Advocating for adjustments to bear encounters
For years, Fur-Bearers has advocated for adjustments to how conservation officers in B.C. deal with bear encounters.
The group argues that B.C.’s Wildlife Act prohibits officers from killing animals except they pose a menace to individuals or property. However, the province counters that the legislation offers officers discretion over whether or not to take action.
In 2017, the group filed a court docket case towards a conservation officer who killed a bear cub close to Dawson Creek the 12 months earlier than, however misplaced the case at B.C. Supreme Court.
In his ruling, Justice G.C. Weatherill sided with the chief conservation officer’s evaluate of the incident, saying that in some circumstances, conservation officers have the discretion and authority to kill wildlife that won’t pose a menace.
“I find it inconceivable that the Legislature intended to restrict the wildlife management powers of officers to kill wildlife to those that are at large and are likely to harm,” Weatherill stated in his ruling.
Aaron Hofman, director of advocacy and coverage at Fur-Bearers, says black bears are sometimes killed by conservation officers once they begin accessing rubbish and spending time in densely populated areas, searching for unnatural meals sources from unsecured attractants.
“I would push back on the idea that once they’re accessing human resources that they need to be killed and that they’re a threat to public safety — they may not be,” he stated.
Although Prince George has carried out sturdy waste administration applications to stop bears from being drawn to rubbish, Hofman says extra must be performed.
“Cities can ensure that their [waste] bins are wildlife-resistant. They can pass bylaws against wildlife feeding,” he stated.
“They can require that residents pick their fruit trees, they can ensure that bird feeders are only out at certain areas of the year, so all these things do have a role in reducing black bears accessing natural food sources in urban centres.”
24CA News has reached out to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, which is answerable for the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, for remark. The City of Prince George declined to remark on the advocacy group’s findings.
