The bear spotted in a tree near 100 Mile Elementary earlier today has been tranquilized.
James Zucchelli, of the 100 Mile House Conservation Officer Service, said it was actually an orphaned bear cub and not a yearling as previously thought.
The cub had been around for 10 days on its own, he said, with no sow in sight.
“This bear has been into garbage, it is unhealthy and it’s not a candidate for any kind of rehabilitation,” he said.
“It basically has no idea which way is up and which way to go, so it’s just a matter of time before it’s going to cause problems or it’s going to starve to death here in the fall and in the winter.”
Because it is so late in the season and because there have been several reported incidents of this cub coming within close proximity of people and feeding on garbage, compost, bird feeders, barbecues, etc, he said it does not meet the criteria for relocation.
Zucchelli said its an “unfortunate circumstance” that conservation officers are put in when people are irresponsible with their attractants and bears become conditioned to non-natural food sources.
Especially this time of year, “no amount of rehabilitation is going to be effective,” when bears grow accustomed to human food sources, he said.
“So you’re just prolonging the death of the bears.”
Doing what feels good to us humans, he said, is often not the best thing for the animal’s welfare.
Zucchelli said there are still bears out there and that there are a lot of un-cleaned fruit trees being.
He called it “a lose-lose situation” when people attract bears onto their properties.
The official reporting line for the Conservation Officer Service is 1-877-952-7277..
beth.audet@100milefreepress.net
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