Nine bears killed over just three days in B.C. town

A conservation officer who helped to kill nine nuisance bears over three days in Revelstoke says the carnage will likely continue in coming weeks, because the southeast British Columbia city has a problem with garbage and fruit trees.

Dan Bartol, an officer in the Columbia Kootenay Zone, says he’s already received calls about more nuisance bears over the weekend, having had the unpleasant task of helping euthanize nine black bears in and around Revelstoke last week, including a sow and cubs, and a fearless bruin feasting on open buckets of waste food in a downtown alley.

“The common thread here is garbage and fruit trees, and that’s creating attractants for bears to come into the town, because there’s nothing to stop them — there’s no deterrent at all,” said Bartol.

“The bears know there’s easy food to be found, and they come down looking for the fruit trees that everyone has to have for some reason, and they get into garbage that’s not secured properly, and then this happens.”

Bartol was criticized by some in the city of 7,000 for shooting the back-alley bear in plain sight, but he’s defended the cull as necessary because a tranquillizer would have taken too long and the animal was too close to people.

And he in turn is criticizing Revelstoke for failing to keep a lid on garbage and fruit trees, which in other mountain towns, including Banff and Canmore, are strictly regulated and restricted.

Only one Revelstoke neighbourhood has bear-proof bins, and despite a remarkable success record of no nuisance bears in Johnson Heights, the town has failed to follow through in implementing the same program for other homes, instead relying on education and bear-aware programs.

“The city encourages residents to be responsible with securing garbage, obeying bylaws, recycling, harvesting fruit and composting,” acting Revelstoke Mayor Trevor English wrote in a statement to local media following last week’s bear deaths.

Bartol says that while some in Revelstoke do their utmost to save the bears, too many leave food waste in easily accessed or open containers and allow trees to become laden with fruit.