Resident raises concerns after spotting dead bears in ditches

Dan Dzama was driving down a country road in the Lac du Bonnet area when he made a gruesome discovery.

“I stopped, got out of the vehicle, checked the bear and sure enough, it was dead – been there for awhile,” said Dzama.

He continued driving and then spotted another bear, this one skinned and the carcass also left in the ditch.

“This is just a waste, to shoot an animal, let it sit there for people to see going down a road. It's disturbing as a hunter and a wildlife lover,” said Dzama.

“I am very concerned about this. It’s sickening. I couldn’t sleep last night,” he said.

A total of six bears have been killed this year in rural Manitoba.

Manitoba Conservation says there has been a spike in the bear population in some areas of the province, including near Lac du Bonnet, and that's become a concern for at least one farmer in the area.

“An officer in our office issued what’s called a kill permit, which allows him to kill bears that are causing a problem,” said Earl Simmons from Manitoba Conservation.

Only one kill permit has been issued this year in Manitoba.

Simmons said bears have been getting into corn crops.

“They'll get in there and they'll do a considerable amount of damage. It's a last resort. We issue a kill permit to be sympathetic to the concerns of the farmers,” said Simmons.

Conservation officials said that since the bears are on a country road, they’ll leave them for scavengers. If they were on a main road, the bodies would be taken away.

On Tuesday, a provincial spokesperson said the bodies of the bears were removed from the side of the road and placed in a more wooded area nearby, to reduce the risk of attracting predators near the road, which could pose safety concerns.