Conservation officers encouraging Kamloops residents to call first when seeing a bear

Conservation officers say it’s good that neighbours are talking among each other about problem bears in the area, but they encourage people to call them right away, so they can do something before it’s too late.

“It’s great that communities can communicate together through social media and other means. But if that prevents them from contacting the Conservation Officers Service, it’s basically allowing that bear to go to a point where we need to intervene and remove that bear,” said conservation officer Jordan Ferguson.

On Tuesday, Barnhartvale resident Ann Hahr noticed a young three-year-old bear in her backyard. Following multiple attempts to call conservation officers, they arrived at her property, set up a trap, and eventually put down the bear on Wednesday.

The CO Service says the bear had been in Barnhartvale for about three weeks.

Had officers been notified earlier, Ferguson says they may have been able to relocate the bear and rehabilitate him.

Overall, there have been 90 bear calls since the beginning of April. That compares to 186 through all of last year, although the average number of calls is typically around 400.

by Chad Klassen

Conservation officers encouraging Kamloops residents to call first when seeing a bear

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