Wildlife Pays the Price

As of yesterday, August 19, 2011, 163 Black Bears and 4 Grizzly Bears have been ‘euthanized’ (killed) across British Columbia. In every case, their demise could have been avoided if the humans who share their environment had cared enough to keep their garbage secured.
Bears are omnivore opportunist. In other words, they’ll eat just about anything. I have seen bear scat with everything from cherry seeds and walnut shells to plastic bags and bottle caps. They’re not very discerning and when I see such ‘un-natural’ items in their deposits, it’s a sure thing they’ve discovered someone’s left out garbage.
For bears feasting on such delights, humans have become the source of easy pickings and how could you blame them? But blame them we do, and they get to pay the price with their lives.
I fully support heavy fines for leaving garbage out where wildlife has easy access. Keep it locked in the garage, porch, or storage shed until pick up day or take it to the dump yourself.
It’s become too easy to blame wild animals for our own shortsightedness. Just in the last few weeks there have been the following examples.
*A man, walking on a rural path got between a mother black bear and her 3 cubs. She attacked him… But, he had no major injuries. In fact, he had little more than bruises and scratches. It was a frightening experience to be sure but if she had intended to kill him, she could have very easily done so. She was hunted and killed in front of her three wailing and traumatized cubs. The now orphaned cubs are being raised in a wildlife rescue centre. Was it really necessary to kill this mother bear?
*A gentleman riding his bicycle on a hiking trail came upon a cougar trotting along the same path. He did the smart thing by picking up his bike, holding it above his head to make himself look larger and screamed at the cat. Curiosity held the big cat for a few moments longer before it ran off into the forest. The cougar was later tracked down and killed. Was it really necessary to kill the cougar?
*While browsing through a yard sale, I overheard a neighbor complain about the bear who had tracked garbage all over his front yard. Yes, it really was a mess but was the bear to blame? No matter, he had been assured that the ‘Conservation’ officer would be out soon to dispatch this problem bear.
*We live in Lake country and our adjoining property is time-shared between several families from the city. The first family of the season arrived with their 3 children and went about setting up their above ground pool when they saw, way off in the distance, a bear leisurely eating plums from a abandoned tree. They hurried their kids inside and looked fearfully back at the bear. Because we were nearby, we suggested we get the kids out to get a closer look at a still safe distance and use the opportunity to teach the children about the wildlife that abounds in this area and the rules for living with them safely. There was no convincing their parents, so once again, the Conservation officer was called to rid the area of the potentially dangerous bear.
There are so many of these examples and for every example there is a dead bear or cougar. At one time, they were trapped in barrel cages and relocated. Now we are told that it isn’t practical or economical to relocate problem bears. They only eventually come back. Although that may be true in some cases, it isn’t in every case. Killing them because they may be a potential threat gives them no chance at all. It not only isn’t fair it’s a kind of genocide.When will the killing stop? When there’s nothing left to kill?