A grizzly yearling relocated from Nelson earlier this month was dispatched in the Christina Lake area Thursday after entering a built-up area and accessing non-natural food sources.
The male was one of two siblings captured and relocated Aug. 14 after conservation officers dispatched their mother, a grizzly sow that had become well known in Nelson.
The two bears were later spotted in the Christina Lake area.
The bear was being monitored through a radio collar when it returned to a built-up area, according to Andrew Milne, deputy chief conservation officer with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
Milne said the yearling was again coming into close proximity with people, showed little fear of humans and accessed non-natural food sources.
“However, it’s reverted back to its, you know, to non-natural foods and back into built-up areas,” he said. “This animal, as per our guidance documents and policy procedures, it was deemed as a public safety threat and was dispatched accordingly.”
Conservation officers had already been in the community before the bear was dispatched, Milne said, speaking with residents about securing attractants and making the bear unwelcome.
However, he said those efforts were unsuccessful.
The bear’s dispatch is the third time a member of the same grizzly family has been killed this month.
A male yearling from the group was euthanized Aug. 12 because of an injured leg and conflict history. The sow was dispatched two days later, while her remaining two yearlings were captured and relocated.
Garth Mowat, a Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship wildlife biologist, said officials knew relocation was not guaranteed to change the young bears’ behaviour.
“When we moved this bear, we knew there was a good chance it was gonna go back to eating human foods,” said Mowat, noting the two yearlings had spent much of their lives in Nelson, had become comfortable around people and had been accessing human food.
“Bears that have become dependent on human foods rarely change those habits,” Mowat said. “We saw it as a way that we could possibly give them one more chance.”
Mowat said while the yearlings were old enough to survive without their mother, officials knew there was a risk they would return to the same behaviours.
He also explained that the release site was selected to put distance and natural barriers between the bears and Nelson while providing seasonal food sources.
Officials looked for an area with berries, particularly huckleberries, which bears are expected to eat at this time of year. But Mowat said finding such habitat has been more difficult this year because of poor berry conditions.
Mowat said bears moved outside their home range can travel widely while trying to get their bearings and may cover significant distances in a short period.
The surviving female yearling remains fitted with a radio collar and is currently outside the community. Mowat said provincial officials receive location updates from her collar every few hours.
He said the bear will not be relocated again.
“We just hope that she stays out of town and there will be no need for any further action,” he said. “We will not relocate that bear again either. It’s really a long shot that the relocation would work.”
Mowat said the male yearling’s death illustrates the limits of relocation once a bear becomes dependent on human food.
“Using the example of this male bear, we did something that we thought might work, but it created animosity in another community,” he said. “In other words, we exported the problem to another place. We don’t have that many options once bears become dependent on human food.”
Both officials urged residents in communities where the surviving yearling may travel to secure garbage and other attractants to prevent the bear from becoming comfortable in residential areas.
Milne said the public can debate government policies and procedures, but urged people to direct criticism at those decisions rather than individual conservation officers and wildlife staff.
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