‘Our attractants just aren’t being managed nearly well enough’: CO’s kill 9 bears in 3 days in Revelstoke

In a three day span, conservation officers in Revelstoke killed nine bears in the town, and residents are being urged to try and do their part to prevent the bears from being attracted to their neighbourhoods.

READ MORE: Beware of bears in regional parks

On Thursday, Global Okanagan reported on calls for change after a conservation officer shot a bear in downtown Revelstoke.

A conservation officer initially told Global News four bears were euthanized on Tuesday, later admitting five other bears were killed this week.

“One bear was caught in a trap and euthanized [Thursday]… four bears were also euthanized [Wednesday],” conservation officer Dan Bartol said during a phone call with Global Okanagan reporter Megan Turcato.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "One bear was caught in a trap and euthanized [Thursday]… four bears were also euthanized [Wednesday]," conservation officer Dan Bartol said during a phone call with Global Okanagan reporter Megan Turcato.

“I didn’t personally kill all of them but they were all by the co’s.”

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2:17 Hundreds of bears killed due to conflicts with people, says province

Bartol said so far this year one bear had been euthanized prior to this week.

“The number of calls we have gotten so far in August is through the roof.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The number of calls we have gotten so far in August is through the roof."

He believes human’s aren’t doing a good enough job of hiding attractants from bears.

“In my mind, our attractants just aren’t being managed nearly well enough. These bears are being able to get to all of these food rewards time and time again,” Bartol said.

WATCH BELOW: West Kelowna resident wants city to become bear smart

He said one of the nine bears was euthanized because of the state of his health, the other eight were euthanized because they were food conditioned and human habituated.

Bartol said he is still getting several calls about bears approaching people and eating from residential garbage.

“This is extremely unusual. Maybe it happens in other places but it’s not something I’ve ever experienced,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is extremely unusual. Maybe it happens in other places but it's not something I've ever experienced," he said.

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Some residents are calling for the town to get its own conservation officer.

A protest is planned for Monday at 4:30 p.m. at the Grizzly Plaza.

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~ With files from Megan Turcato