It seems more wild animals have been spotted in Burnaby, especially within the past two weeks.
Since July 19, the BC Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) says it's received a total of 25 human-wildlife conflict reports in the the city's vicinity, including:
- 16 bear conflict/sightings
- Three cougar sightings
- Three coyote sighting/conflict/hit by vehicle
- One bobcat sighting
- One deer hit by vehicle
While they receive many sighting reports, the BCCOS says not all need an immediate response, especially if the animal is demonstrating normal behaviour.
It explains employees will respond if there is a public safety risk or if an animal is in distress.
Burnaby has had two incidents this summer where black bears were shot and killed by police or the BCCOS.
During the July 1 long weekend, a black bear was seen chasing what appeared to be a gosling at a busy Burnaby pitch-and-putt golf course.
In a social media post, the animal was seen charging on the course and chasing a group of Canada geese, causing nearby humans to scatter.
The bear continues to chase the young gosling and eventually catches it.
A second video appears to show the same bear around the same time in Central Park, near Patterson Station.
This video was taken on July 2 around 2:30 p.m., according to Sebastian Plusa, who posted it online.
In a statement to the NOW, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy spokesperson David Karn said the bear was tranquilized and, after an assessment, the bear was put down due to its behaviour compromising public safety.
"Putting down any bear or cub is an unfortunate outcome that we work so hard to prevent," the statement said.
"Every wildlife situation is unique and is assessed individually, taking into account ever-changing circumstances, such as the risk to public safety and the animal’s ability to survive in the wild.
"Bears that are conditioned to humans or conditioned to non-natural food sources are not candidates for relocation or rehabilitation."
Border bear killed in June
On June 19, a black bear was shot and killed by police after the bear ventured into a busy residential area near the Burnaby-Vancouver border.
Police started monitoring the bear with hopes it would move to a safer place, according to Vancouver Police Department (VPD) spokesperson Sgt. Steven Addison said.
But Addison explains officers were forced to shoot the bear after it crossed a short distance into Burnaby.
The bear was going "in and out of yards," was getting too close to people and pets and was "walking in traffic," he adds.
According to social media, the bear was believed to have been shot near the intersection of Hastings Street and Boundary Road.
When the bruin was first spotted, VPD notified the BC Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) as well as animal control for assistance.
Animal control staff were deployed, but they didn't arrive before police were forced to kill the bear, Addison says.
According to WildSafeBC's Wildlife Alert Reporting Program, Burnaby has had 383 animal sightings reported including cougars, bears, bobcats and coyotes since January 1, 2022.
The provincial organization encourages residents to consider the following tips around bears:
- Keep your garbage in or secured until the day of collection. Garbage is the number one attractant cited in reports to the provincial hotline
- Manage your fruit trees
- Don’t let windfalls accumulate, and pick fruit as it ripens
- If you don’t want the fruit, consider...
- Accessing a fruit gleaning group in your community
- Washing the blossoms off in the spring so the fruit doesn’t set
- Replacing the tree with a non-fruit bearing variety
- Don’t put out bird feeders when bears are active
- A kilo of bird seed has approximately 8,000 calories and is a great reward for a hungry bear
- Keep your compost working properly with lots of brown materials and a regular schedule of turning
- If you have livestock or backyard chickens use a properly installed and maintained electric fence to keep bears and livestock apart
- with files from Kyle Balzer, Tri-City News
