Conservation Service Seeks Grizzly
Prince George, B.C. – Conservation officers (CO’s) are seeking a grizzly bear in the Salmon Valley.
CO Gary Van Spengen says the bear has killed two 500 pound calves in the past week and a half (most recently late Sunday night) in the area of Wright Creek Road on the south side of the Salmon River.
He says they will have to put the grizzly down but notes they haven’t decided what they’ll do with the sow’s two cubs.
“It’s undetermined what will happen to the two cubs. It depends on their condition and we’ll evaluate our options once we find them.”
Van Spengen says relocating bears as opposed to putting them down is not a viable option because “a lot of times offending bears will come back to the same area and get into trouble again.”
He also says moving bears into an unknown area where they don’t know where to find food sources – especially with winter approaching – could “subject them to a slow starvation.”
Van Spengen says it’s been a busy year with the failure of the berry crop and estimates they’ve received roughly 1,000 calls and have had to put down around 40 bears in the PG area.
With that in mind he encourages residents to lock up their garbage and pick their fruit trees.
And if you see a bear he asks you call 1-877-952-7277.
Comments
Why does this grizzly have to be put down? Isn’t it normal for a bear to eat like a carnivore in the fall to increase it’s fat reserves? I do feel for the rancher losing the calves (probably both a financial and emotional hit). When you ranch do you not know that you could lose animals to the wildlife?
I think the CO explained quite clearly why the bear must be put down…..
I think that is the number to the verbal abuse line. ☻
The rancher in question lost two beef calves worth a total of $2,600.00 dollars. He moved his cattle from the pasture,(where the first calf was killed) into a feed lot 125 yards from his home.
The cost of feeding the cattle in a feed lot adds up, given it isn’t winter.
The bear entered his feed lot, and killed a second calf.
Don’t you think he has a reason to have the problem dealt with?
I guess we’re all entitled to our opinions, so that is his and this is mine. Having grown up rurally, I’ve seen nuisance bears dealt with directly and it wasn’t a call to a CO. It also wasn’t just getting rid of any bear “just cuz” he was there, nuisance bears become problem bears and problem bears can’t be shoo’d away. This is just another example of the issues of man and beast competing for the same ground, and as the population grows exponentially each year, the battle will rage on and the rancher will do what he has to to survive. Making the bear someone elses problem (relocating) doesn’t solve the problem either… jmho
the ‘CO’ did not explain any reason. the farmer is guilty of baiting the grizzly. the bear should not be punished.
censored and A bc, yer joking right. Once the bear finds a food source, it’s ingrained in their brain and their off springs brain.They keep coming back. Way too many bears in this country, glad the CO’s are doing their job. A lot better that having some bear huggers out of the lower mainland doing it, we’d be overrun.
Please please do not kill these cubs. That happened in the Yukon many years ago when the mother killed a miner and the cubs were shot too because apparently YTG couldn’t find a home for them. I did a newspaper article about it and found several agencies that would have taken the cubs. Please don’t make the same mistake as YTG. There will be many many PGers up in arms with you if you do. Send the cubs to the Smithers shelter or the grizzly center in the lower mainland. DO NOT KILL THE CUBS.
Anyone with half a brain and a butt would know that you cant have a grizzly bear with cubs killing life stock. This is a dangerous situation, and has to be dealt with.
We have too many bears in this area, and far to many bears within the City limits. When food is abundant it is less of a problem, however over the years bears, deer, cougars, coyotes, etc; have moved into this area by the hundreds??? Why??
My guess is that with the establishment of Regional Districts, and restrictions on hunting the safest place for wild life is in the greater Prince George area.
We have herds of deer just South of town, and out by the pulp mills. In the 60’s and 70’s you would rarely see a deer. Now they are everywhere, and of course we get the Cougars.
Black bears were common, however it was a rare day indeed that you would see a grizzly anywhere around Prince George. The closest grizzly’s would be around the McGregor Mountains. Now they are in your back yard.
This is a serious problem.
The Tabor Mt. area has always had a fairly healthy grizzly population as does the Pilot Mt. area.
Grizzly bears are supposed to eat black bears, not farmers cows.
Glad to hear they are finally taking care of this thing. I called in once in July and once in August and received little assistance as it ate 3 sheep. If it was dealt with in July when I first called this farmer wouldn’t be out 2 cows. I’ve been holding off getting calves till the bear was taken out. I can get calves now!
CO’s? News stories? In the good old days this would have been handled by the three “S”es and the bleeding hearts would never even know there was an issue.
You live in bear country you have to learn to live with bears. It is time ranchers and farmers face the same regulations as everybody else and avoid attracting predators. While mature cows may band together and fend off a bear, calves are the most vulnerable and should be separated and put behind electric fencing at times when a berry crop failure forces bears to look for alternative food sources. For as long as I remember, grizzly bears lived in the Wright Creek Road area. Get used to it and adapt.
Neither the ranchers nor the conversation officers show any responsible stewardship calling for the killing of these bears. Here in Prince George the conservation officers always point the finger at local residents when they shoot a bear, claiming they had to kill it because they attracted it with their garbage. It is time for the conservation officers point the finger towards Wright Creek Road and leave the bears alone.
Ben, while I see & understand your argument, try to see it from how the bear would view it. First, as Itelman points out, the bears have always been there. Second, bears, grizzlies in particular, are quite smart & very opportunistic, you put a food source that is vulnerable & within easy reach, the bear will take the easy meal especially if she has cubs. Third, as the CO pointed out this has been a horrible year for wild berries, hence the elevated number of bear encounters, so all bears are going to take risks as they are going into their hyperphagia cycle. The bear is only doing what she was designed to do, eat & look after her offspring.
Not wanting to see an animal destroyed makes me a bleeding heart? Paint me red then. Thank god the “good old days” are gone.
Ben, it would have been good to mention in the original article that the bear entered the feed lot. Kind of an important point to mention. It’s one thing for a bear to be attacking livestock out in the pasture and quite another to be attacking in the feed lot.
Palopu, do you really have to insult people first and then state your opinion?! Rude.
Good point itelman about the ranchers and stewardship. It goes a long way when you try to see all sides in an “argument” rather than just pushing your own agenda on people (maybe someone should tell the govt and the BCTF about this). lol!
Berry crop was three weeks late this year but it did come. During the dry spell they weren’t growing but once the rain came in early September they have blossomed into bumper crop if any one cared to look.
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