Conservation kills innocent bear family - AGAIN

[matai]

So, the bear gets killed, the garbage maker creator keeps on garbaging away in his pickup truck and more bears find the garbage and the killing continues...

Pathetic.

Toss the food away & the bears will go away.

[Captain Awesome]

removed.

[Daspoot]

Prevention awareness is the only hope, but even with that you still can't reach 100% of the people out there.

It's really easy to throw accusations at those who make mistakes like garbage in the back of the truck. The problem is the person probably had no intention of causing a problem, and for all we know the garbage may have just been put in there for a trip to the dump. Honest mistakes are just that.

It's really easy to cast blame on the C.O. too, unfortunately it's only through ignorance that one can point at them as not doing the right thing. Once identified, the bear(s) become a liability, and answering to anyone that may have been hurt because insufficient actions taken is a far bigger legal risk than answering a few people who really have no clue, but feel they need to spout off on a forum.

You won't find too many people more in-tune and respectful of wild animals than CO's. Nobody feels good about putting down a Sow and two cubs. In fact, it's the CO's who should be on here posting about those uneducated people who put them in that position in the first place.

Shame on those here pointing fingers at the CO. Get some information between your ears before spouting off.

[PDT]

Prevention awareness is definitely the way to go. That's how they're dealing with the endangered animals in other parts of the world -- which will also happen here in BC if we continue the way we're going.

The CO is the one doing the killing, so, yes, I admit that it's all too easy to point the blame at them. Perhaps that's wrong, but they don't exactly speak up about much either. They show up, they hunt down some wildlife, and then leave.

[PDT]

Has anything been done to deal with the garbage in this area that the now dead bears were feeding on? Or has that just been left there for more bears to come along to eat and then also get killed by our "conservation" officers?

We have these "awesome" regional districts here in the Okanagan that get their panties all in a bunch about dogs and dog poop, but they sure don't seem to give a "poop" about the other types of garbage being left around - including the things that attract wildlife. If the CO's are too busy to enforce wildlife-related laws then, perhaps, the regional districts should take on these sorts of things as well.

[KL3-Something]

Well it's now apparent where the editors of Castanet sit on this issue based on their choice of revised title and angle taken to this story.

So much for "balanced" reporting.

[techrtr]

I'm surprised the govt. of BC doesn't sell tickets to American hunters for about $25,000 a pop to come up to places like Summerland so they can shoot bears.

I'm sure most CO's are hunters and to them shooting a mother bear and her cubs is no different than swatting a fly.

[JLives]

It does suck but it is a decision that had to be made for the safety of residents, especially kids. My mom told me how when she was growing up, in Stewart up North, they had one bear that came back to town three times in three years despite being relocated far away. Every year it went back to the school yard and it's garbage cans until the CO's gave up and put the bear down. Sometimes it's a necessary evil but the decision should be made on a case by case basis.

[baconbits]

Please go to this link and show your support to get a Bear Aware program for your local community

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=56361&p=1643783#p1643783

[livewire]

They aren't conserving anything. When was the last time a bear actually hurt anyone within an Okanagan town? If they were truly about conservation, they would also be educating the public on a regular basis about dealing with wildlife.

A better title for these government employees/hunters would be Wildlife Control. Conservation makes it sound like an environment-caring job, but it's not that at all.

What a ridiculous thing to say....they should be educating the public on how to deal with wild life? What semi educated person doesn't understand that is you as a human don't deal with your garbage properly you'll have problems. Bears, rats, raccoons.....stupid humans created the problem.

[Darlin06]

I am so sick of hearing this crap. I understand that sometimes these officers have to do things that even they don't like. Fine. But these animals come down because of all the stupid idiots out there who leave their garbage out and don't clean up after themselves. These are also the people who are the first to call and report the animal lurking in their backyard that needs to be shot. Then, they *bleep* and complain because too many animals are being destroyed. There's 2 houses on my street, including mine that don't put our garbage out days before. Every other house on my block does, including a local veterinarian!!! How many times have we woken up and there's trash all over the cul de sac or our grass that doesn't even belong to us?

These people who cause these situations to happen, are the ones who need to be shot and/or relocated themselves. Or at least start handing out fines to these idiots.

[livewire]

I am so sick of hearing this crap. I understand that sometimes these officers have to do things that even they don't like. Fine. But these animals come down because of all the stupid idiots out there who leave their garbage out and don't clean up after themselves. These are also the people who are the first to call and report the animal lurking in their backyard that needs to be shot. Then, they *bleep* and complain because too many animals are being destroyed. There's 2 houses on my street, including mine that don't put our garbage out days before. Every other house on my block does, including a local veterinarian!!! How many times have we woken up and there's trash all over the cul de sac or our grass that doesn't even belong to us?

These people who cause these situations to happen, are the ones who need to be shot and/or relocated themselves. Or at least start handing out fines to these idiots.

Darlin06, perfectly said!

[KL3-Something]

I'm surprised the govt. of BC doesn't sell tickets to American hunters for about $25,000 a pop to come up to places like Summerland so they can shoot bears.

I'm sure most CO's are hunters and to them shooting a mother bear and her cubs is no different than swatting a fly.

You would be wrong.

[XT225]

I am so sick of hearing this crap. I understand that sometimes these officers have to do things that even they don't like. Fine. But these animals come down because of all the stupid idiots out there who leave their garbage out and don't clean up after themselves. These are also the people who are the first to call and report the animal lurking in their backyard that needs to be shot. Then, they *bleep* and complain because too many animals are being destroyed. There's 2 houses on my street, including mine that don't put our garbage out days before. Every other house on my block does, including a local veterinarian!!! How many times have we woken up and there's trash all over the cul de sac or our grass that doesn't even belong to us?

These people who cause these situations to happen, are the ones who need to be shot and/or relocated themselves. Or at least start handing out fines to these idiots.

I have the SAME problem with a couple neighbours. Asking for trouble and we HAVE had bears in the neighbourhood. I believe it is Naramata that enacted a bylaw that you can NOT put your garbage out til that morning. Good for them. It needs to be a law everywhere and enforced!

[Always Sunny]

At my previous job in northern Ontario I've shown up for work and found 6 bags of trash torn apart and strewn about the parking area just outside of my office window. The "secure" garbage bin was torn apart by a bear(s).

Later I go home (to my townhouse complex) to find the screen of my front door shredded. I literally lived in the unit between a police officer and two conservation officers. The cop told me "yeah, there was a bear out here this morning, he tried getting into your house". Perfect. At least I was at work (walking distance away) cleaning up the mess he'd made the night before.

I don't leave garbage out. There was certain no reason for it to try and gain entry into my house, yet it showed absolutely no fear of being around humans. This is how situations can escalate when problem bears are allowed to become even bigger problems unfortunately.