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Bear death total reaches nine in three days in Revelstoke

The number of bears killed in Revelstoke by the Conservation Officer Service has reached nine, including a sow and her two cubs.
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A bear walks off with a bag of garbage. Nine bears have been killed in Revelstoke this week — eight because they were habituated to eating garbage.

The number of bears killed in Revelstoke by the Conservation Officer Service has reached nine, including a sow and her two cubs.

“This is probably the worst week I’ve ever had in my life in terms of work,” CO Dan Bartol told the Review. “I’ve euthanized a number of bears over my career but never with such frequency. I’ve never seen such persistent problems. The volume is almost overwhelming.

“It’s no fun shooting any bear, but to shoot a cub is really tough.”

The Review spoke to Bartol after he returned to Golden following a three-day stint in Revelstoke dealing with several bears that were getting into people’s garbage.

Four bears were killed on Tuesday, four more on Wednesday, and one on Thursday morning. Here’s the run-down of each incident:

1. On Tuesday morning, a garbage-habituated bear was killed in Columbia Park.

2. A bit later, an injured, unhealthy bear was euthanized in the Big Eddy.

3. A bear that was getting into garbage and food that we left out by a local restaurant was killed downtown on Tuesday evening.

4. On Tuesday night, a bear that was getting into people’s garbage and fruit trees in the Big Eddy was killed.

5. On Wednesday morning, a bear that was getting into garbage and had charged at people was killed in the Big Eddy.

6–8. On Wednesday, a sow and her two cubs were killed after they were seen wandering around the Williamson’s Lake campground, getting in and out of people’s garbage. Conservation Officers tried to chase them away, but they kept returning to the campground. After talking to campers and the host, and finding a pile of garbage under a tree, all three animals were killed. Bartol said they considered tranquilizing the cubs and bringing them to a rehabilitation centre, but after watching them, they determined that was not possible. “They were already displaying very bad habits,” he said. “They were not candidates for rehabilitation.”

9. On Wednesday, two traps were set targeting bears that were getting into garbage — one in Columbia Park and the other in the Big Eddy. Bartol said a bear wandered into the Big Eddy trap almost immediately. It was killed Thursday morning.

The incidents come just after Revelstoke Bear Aware submitted an article to the Review warning of the increase in bear sightings in town.

Here are our other articles on this topic:

Three bears killed in Revelstoke in one day

City of Revelstoke responds to bear deaths