Conservation officers have captured a grizzly bear that’s been making Whistler its home for several weeks.
The bear has been spotted in several areas, including a soccer field adjacent to Myrtle Phillips Elementary School, prompting the park’s closure to the public.
B.C. Conservation Officer Service Insp. Simon Gravel said the bear wasn’t showing any aggressive behaviour, but that they wanted to catch and relocate it before it became to acclimated to humans.
“Obviously being in proximity of residences and a school creates quite a bit of concern from residents, and fair enough, however the conservation of grizzly bears in B.C. is important, and this bear not being a problem, the best outcome was to give the bear some space and hoping he was going to move on,” he said.
“Unfortunately the bear didn’t move on.”
Black bears are no strangers to Whistler, but a larger and more potentially dangerous grizzly was another matter.
The bear was spotted at least 10 times in as many days on one local street, and locals told Global News they were growing increasingly concerned.
“Statistically we know grizzlies do more harm than a black bear, so we are careful and especially with the dogs, we keep them on the leash,” Whistlerite Mechthild Facundo said.
“It’s by the schools, it can’t be here for too long. There’s Halloween coming up, there will be a lot of people here,” added local Ken Tsang.
While some residents in the community expressed frustration with how long it took to trap and remove the bear, Whistler Mayor Jack Crompton said the resort municipality relies on the expertise and advice of the Conservation Officer Service.
“Our main job is to share the advice and the information that the Conservation Officer Service provides. It is their job to manage bears in our community and we’re really grateful for the work they do,” he told Global News.
“We want to be good at coexisting with bears and insight, their work, their advice is critical to us in doing that well.”
Gravel said conservation officers prefer not to relocate bears if they can manage it, because the process can be risky and potentially harmful to the animals.
But he said they decided to act this week when the grizzly showed no signs of relocating itself, setting a trap on Tuesday.
On Thursday, it was captured just a few metres from a playground and on a path to a local school.
“The bear walked into a trap and now we’re going to collar him and tag the bear, and he’s going to be transported to a better location,” Gravel said.
“The last thing we want for any bears, a black bear, grizzly bears, we don’t want them to be comfortable around humans because the risk for them to escalate in conflict level is pretty good, is very likely.”
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