Brazen bear from viral social media videos ‘dispatched,’ B.C. officials say

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service has confirmed the bear captured in Burnaby Mountain Park Thursday is the one recorded in a number of troubling incidents.

The black bear that was caught on camera stealing human food from a busy park in Burnaby, B.C., has been “dispatched,” officials confirmed Friday.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said the bear’s troubling behaviour, ­­which included approaching visitors in Burnaby Mountain Park on multiple occasions, meant relocating the animal was not an option.

“Conservation officers care immensely about the health and wellbeing of wildlife,” the BCCOS said, in a statement to CTV News.

“It’s an unfortunate fact that once bears are conditioned to non-natural foods and show a minimal fear of people, they are no longer candidates for relocation or rehabilitation, as the risk to public safety is too great.”

The decision to kill the bear was made in consultation with wildlife biologist from B.C.’s Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship.

Officers set a live trap for the bear last weekend, following a series of incidents that raised alarm, some of which became viral videos online.

One video shows the bear eating food on a picnic table, while another shows the animal approaching two unaware park users from behind as others scatter in fear. The two eventually notice the bear and scurry away as the animal noses through their belongings.

A black bear was snared in the trap Thursday, and conservation officers have since confirmed it is the same animal from those troubling encounters.

The incidents prompted the city to shut down an area of Burnaby Mountain Park until the bear was removed, for public safety.

“It’s certainly not a place I would want to take my family, knowing there’s a bear that’s habituated to humans,” Conservation Officer Kent Popjes told CTV News this week, while urging visitors to heed the closure.

Advice for how to respond to bear encounters is available on the WildSafeBC website.

Authorities urge anyone who witnesses a wildlife conflict to contact the Report All Poachers and Polluters hotline at 1-877-952-7277.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s St. John Alexander