You may have noticed that our page has been quiet for the last few days. We are tremendously sad and extremely disheartened to inform you that the little brown black bear that fought so hard to survive after losing her family when she was a young cub, (we now know that this bear was female) has also been killed by a conservation officer. Here is what we know about this horrific situation.

On Monday January 15th, in the Gyro Park area of Nelson, this little bear was tranquilized by the COS in someone's backyard. While under sedation, she was evaluated by the CO, who then called a biologist in another city and relayed his observations over the phone. The CO stated that she was missing a lot of fur, had no body fat on her, and was all muscle. So much so that you could feel her muscles under the skin. When asked about the possibility of mange, he said “Oh yeah, she had that too.” What troubles us about this statement is that we are not aware of any photos or video sent to the biologist to enable a visual assessment, and that successful treatment of mange in black bears has been obtained by administering one dose of fluralaner in the field. These results are documented and readily available, so it is puzzling why a biologist would either not be aware of this treatment, or if aware, why they would choose not to utilize it.

If this bear had been properly evaluated in person and was truly deemed to be suffering without hope of recovery, we would be the first to say that euthanasia would absolutely be the ethical and kindest thing to do. Instead, without a veterinarian (which we have in town and has expertise in bear biology) looking at her body, and without seeking out a true professional medical assessment, they chose to end her life. If her suffering due to lack of body fat and fur was truly the reason that they killed her, why was it only after this bear endured weeks of extremely cold weather that this suddenly became a concern? Over the last few days of her life, several reports were made to the RAPP line regarding this bear approaching people in a non-aggressive manner. Was she doing this because she was being fed, or was she simply asking for help? We'll never know the answer to this, but we do have to question if approaching people was the real reason why this little bear was killed.

The last 16 months of this bear's short and difficult life clearly illustrate the suffering and injustice that occurs at the hands of "Conservation." No animal should have to witness the trauma of their family being murdered, and then be left to fend for themselves to try to survive as a young cub that should have been with their mother for at least another winter and spring. Situations like this, where COS refuses to give the okay for COYS (Cubs of the Year) to go to wildlife rehabilitation facilities - accomplishes nothing but making an innocent animal suffer. It does not teach residents to secure their attractants. The resident who left their garbage out and then called the COS to come and shoot this bear’s mother, not only still leaves his garbage out, but didn’t even receive a fine, which COS are authorized to issue under the BC Wildlife Act. If the COS started issuing fines to lazy uncaring humans that cause human-wildlife conflict, municipalities took responsibility for keeping human generated garbage secured from wildlife and gave out more fines to those who don’t abide, things might change. Until then, innocent animals will continue to be the only victims in our destructive and ever encroaching reach into their shrinking habitat.

Rest in peace sweet little bear. You didn’t deserve the horrible existence that we humans caused you, and you will not be forgotten.

(If you or someone you know feels traumatized by this situation, please send us an email at theursaprojectnelson@gmail.com and let us know. You deserve to be heard. We need to demonstrate how this has affected our community.)

January 22, 2024