‘Pretty horrific’: Bear shot with crossbow in Metro Vancouver park

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story included incorrect information. The story has been updated.

The B.C. Conservation Service is investigating a report that a black bear was shot with a crossbow on a rural blueberry farm next to Minnekhada Regional Park in Coquitlam.

Conservation officers and RCMP officers were called at about 8:30 p.m. on June 14 after witnesses said they saw some people allegedly trespassing on the property and shooting the bear.

Witnesses told Global News they saw two men shoot the bear with the crossbow and they said the bear died.

Officers searched for the bear, the Conservation Service confirmed but did not find the injured animal. They could not confirm if the animal died.

RCMP did not provide any further information and said the file remains with the Conservation Officer Service.

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Nearby resident Ray Larson rides his bike regularly through the park.

He told Global News that he loves to see bears. He said he saw a mother with some cubs recently and just passed a bear earlier Thursday morning on his ride.

“Just minding its own business,” he said.

Larson said he had heard about someone shooting a bear with an arrow last week but he had not seen anything like that himself.

“Pretty horrific someone would do that,” he said. “This is their habitat, we’re just passing through.”

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A spokesperson from the nearby farm, Silver Valley Farms Ltd., said that the hunters did not have permission to shoot bears on the farm, and that the landowners do not condone such actions.

The Conservation Officer Service said it continues to investigate potential violations around this incident but said there is no risk to public safety.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline at 1-877-952-7277.

On June 16, Conservation Officers responded to reports of an injured bear along Oliver Road in Coquitlam.

They said they were able to determine it was a candidate for relocation but they could not confirm if it was the same bear from the blueberry farm question.