The British Columbia government is facing calls for greater oversight of conservation officers, amid concerns about the number of black bears being killed.
Last Monday, District of North Vancouver council endorsed a resolution for the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities convention calling for changes to the way the BC Conservation Officer Service deals with bears.
The proposal seeks the establishment of a civilian oversight board for the service along with an audit of its practices. It also calls for orphaned cubs to be taken to wildlife sanctuaries where veterinarians would determine whether they should be rehabilitated or euthanized.
According to a report presented to council, 603 black bears were put down in 2023, the highest number in a decade.
The BC Conservation officer Service said it received more than 27,000 calls related to black bears in 2023, with about two per cent resulting in an animal being euthanized, while 61 cubs were taken to rehabilitation facilities.
The proposal has earned the backing of conservationists like bear viewing guide Ellie Lamb, who believes officers are killing bears they do not need to.
“They shouldn’t be killed. There should be education to the public on how to coexist and keep attractants managed,” Lamb told Global News.
“This cruelty is publicly supported, that doesn’t work for the community anymore.”
Lamb argued that most bears that make their way into urban areas are either young, sick or mothers with cubs, and said they tend to move on fairly quickly.
She said bears are native to most parts of B.C., and that the public needs to be better educated on how to coexist with them, rather than immediately seeing them as a threat. The mounting number of bear deaths has come without any noticeable change in bear populations or behaviour, she added.
“I would say the messaging of the BC Conservation Officer Service is a concern,” she said.
“People that do not know bears and they hear every bear you see you must call … then they consider that there must be a concern for their safety and they call, and those calls have gone up.
B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said the Conservation Officer Service is highly trained and already works with municipalities on wildlife management.
He said he has not received any specific calls from municipalities about a change in the way the organization is overseen but is willing to meet with municipal leaders who have concerns.
“We are always looking for ways to work as collaboratively as possible with local authorities, with First Nations and with the people that live in a particular community,” he said.
“But it is a provincial responsibility and I don’t think there is any way anybody would ever absolve us of that responsibility with the resources and responsibilities we have under the various acts for wildlife and the Conservation Officer Service.”
In a statement, the ministry said while there are “several levels of accountability” for the service, it is also looking for “areas of opportunity” for changes to the Police Act that could benefit officers and the public.
Heyman said managing attractants such as food and trash and education remain the keys to protecting bears in urban areas.
Lamb agreed that education is crucial to the question, but argued it needs to take priority over an enforcement response that sees bears put down.
“Bears will build relationships with areas and with people just to get along, and that’s really their nature, and people also build relationships with them,” she said.
“They get to know these bears and they even give them names, and then they see them get shot in their front yards, and it’s traumatizing.”
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