Four bears habituated to humans were euthanized by a Merritt conservation officer last Tuesday morning.
RCMP and Merritt’s Conservation Officer Service responded to a report of a mother and her two cubs who had been feeding on garbage they found on Second Avenue.
Conservation officer Jon Paquin told the Herald the sow and cubs were found along a route commonly used by children to walk to school.
Paquin said the conservation office had been monitoring the family of bears for a few weeks and found they had become habituated to humans and conditioned to eating non-natural food sources — targeting garbage specifically.
Given these factors, the bears were euthanized for public safety concerns, he said.
Paquin said he was able to come within about 20 feet of the bear family. They were indifferent to his presence, showing him they were habituated to humans.
“The cubs — because they were learning from their mother — they were heavily habituated and they were reliant on non-natural food sources, such as garbage. They were not suitable for relocation at that point in time and they were euthanized as well,” Paquin said.
At about the same time, another bear was reported — this time at Rotary Park near children playing on the jungle gym. The bear even got within a few feet of a local woman.
When Paquin attended, the bear was just leaving the park. He attempted to move it into a green space and chase it out of town, but the bear ended up wandering over to Second Avenue to feast on the same garbage the bear family had been eating. It, too, was put down for public safety concerns.
In Merritt, unsecured garbage and unkept fruit trees are the top two non-natural food sources available to bears in the community, Paquin told the Herald.
This time of year is high time for bears to be stocking up on food for the winter as they are in a period known as hyperphagia, when they eat and drink excessively to prepare for hibernation.
Paquin said a bear can eat up to 20,000 calories per day.
Paquin said Merritt’s conservation office has received many calls on a daily basis over the past month regarding several bears roaming the community.
He said in that time, the conservation office has spent several hours going door to door, particularly in the Bench area and the area around Rotary Park educating residents and asking them to manage attractants — by picking fruit trees and securing their garbage.
However, the conservation office met resistance from multiple residents, leading local officers to issue dangerous wildlife protection orders and warnings to non-compliant individuals, Paquin said.
Paquin said when humans allow bears to have access to non-natural food sources such as garbage, unkept barbecues or bird feed and pet food, they become reliant on food that is not natural to them. When that happens, bears will become desensitized to the presence of humans and that increases the likelihood of them coming in contact with people.
At that point, bears will also show irregular behaviours.
“They start to come out during the day, amongst humans. They’re more willing to approach humans, and that increases the public safety risk of perhaps a surprise encounter where the bear then goes into a flight or fight mode,” Paquin said.
Paquin said the best way to keep bears out of your garbage is to keep the bin inside a garage or shed if available. People who don’t have access to that option should freeze their garbage and put it out the day of garbage day.
He said pet food should not be stored outdoors. Excess food on barbecues should be cleaned immediately after being cooked. The conservation officer also recommends using bird baths to attract birds rather than bird feeders.
Paquin said a bear will not easily forget a food source such as garbage or fruit trees and continuously return to feed.
Without available food sources — especially non-natural ones — bears will move through town to look for food, Paquin said.
He said bears feeding on natural food sources such as berries or fish in the rivers will probably hang around, but are less likely to be in contact with humans because they are not coming into people’s backyards for their garbage or unmaintained fruit trees. He said typical bear behaviour is to be wary of humans.
Paquin said a bear is a candidate for tranquilization and relocation if there is no evidence of habituation to humans or conditioning to non-natural food sources.
He said tranquilizing and relocating a bear is a traumatizing experience for the animal, and a suitable habitat is needed. He said a food-conditioned bear typically returns to the food source or finds a new area and searches for that same type of food.
Bears are solitary creatures, meaning relocation may result in placing a bear within another bear’s territory, likely putting the relocated bear into a conflict, Paquin said.
He said euthanizing a bear is a last resort, and in the best case scenario, a non-natural food source is removed and the bear is forced to move out of town on its own accord.
People can report conflicts with wildlife to conservation at www.rapp.bc.ca, or by calling 1-877-952-7277 or dialing #7277 on their cellphones.
For more information on how to mitigate conflict with wildlife, visit wildsafebc.com.
