Anger and sadness expressed at rally in Nelson in support of grizzly bears

By Jaime Frederick, Local Journalism Initiative

Emotions were running high in Nelson on Thursday afternoon, as concerned citizens gathered at a rally to express sadness and anger about the killing of a yearling grizzly bear by the BC Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) in the area on Wednesday. 

Rally organizer April Giroux, a resident of Ymir, expressed dismay at the BCCOS’s decision  to kill the bear and demanded greater transparency and accountability from the service.

“It would be really great if we could have someone from Conservation [BCCOS] come out and talk to us and be accountable,” she said. “Be accountable to the people of Nelson. We’re taxpayers. We’re paying their wage. I would like to know their reason for killing these bears. The one bear that they’ve killed so far, and the other one that’s set to be destroyed, as far as I know.”

Giroux says the rally was planned before news of the bear’s death was made public, and that she had hoped it would be a preemptive event rather than a memorial.

“We were hoping to stop the unnecessary killing of these grizzlies,” she said. “In the public, it doesn’t appear to me that there has been any warnings about these bears, other than ‘They’re around, so be aware.’”

In an email statement issued late Wednesday, the BCCOS said that the yearling bear, who had a deformed hind leg, had been seen frequently in the Nelson area recently with its mother and two siblings. They said the bear was killed “following consultation with the provincial wildlife veterinarian and wildlife biologists with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. While unfortunate, its age, injury and conflict history made it unsuitable for rehabilitation or relocation.”

Kootenay Co-op Radio responded with follow-up questions seeking more information about how the decision was reached, clarification about the bear’s conflict history, and to learn more about the conservation service’s intentions regarding the bear’s mother and the remaining yearling cubs. BCCOS had not responded to those inquiries prior to publication.

At the rally, Giroux said she had seen the bears many times, and in her experience had had no issues with them. Pierre Kaufmann agreed. Kaufmann, who has lived near Cottonwood Lake, south of Nelson, since 2013, said he has seen the grizzly sow for many years, beginning when she herself was a cub, and says she had never been a problem.

“That mom and her cubs, we witnessed her as a cub on our property [as she was] growing up,” said Kaufmann. “And we observed her mom and other grizzlies… But they have never shown any signs of aggression. They co-existed. She’s very smart, never gone near any garbage or recycling. There were times when we’d left our recycling out–no interest in it. Definitely showed no signs of being garbage bears.” 

At the same time, Kaufmann pointed to recent developments, including the construction of a new lodge and campground in prime grizzly bear habitat at Whitewater, along with private land logging and deforestation along the corridor between Nelson and Apex, as significant stressors for the bears in their traditional territory. He also noted that there was a huckleberry crop failure this year, which may have brought grizzlies down from the alpine to feed on fruit in trees closer to areas of greater human population. 

“This year, there was extensive berry crop failure,” said Kaufmann. “I sent messages to Bear Smart and Wildsafe, and other people did. They posted it. Yet there was no proactive action. And the [province’s] biologist told me they knew that. That there was a complete berry crop failure.”

Kaufmann also said he believes that, previously, the safe co-existence between grizzly bears and people had been achieved by a good level of cooperation between various different agencies. He believes the BCCOS could communicate more frequently and effectively about all the issues facing the bears.

“For example, the Rails to Trails is closed when there’s bears around,” he said.  “There’s active communication on Facebook as to where the bears are. So just adding to that layer is what we need. ‘Heads up, this year’s gonna be rough. There’s less habitat, there’s more people, and there’s a berry crop failure.’ So conservation officers could really enforce garbage, picking trees of fruit, et cetera. Those are easy things to do.”

Amongst the crowd of approximately 30 people at the rally, many shedding tears and carrying signs in support of the grizzly bears, was Katie Graves from the Ursa Project, a bear awareness and advocacy organization based in Nelson. Graves echoed Kaufmann’s sentiments and urged people to communicate with their neighbours and with the BCCOS about the grizzlies. She asked everyone to be more proactive about taking steps to prevent bear encounters in their neighbourhoods and communities.

“It makes it more important that we do whatever we can with our voices,” she said. “Email, call, call your friends, talk to your neighbours, secure your attractants, close your doors. There’s just so many things we can be doing. Little things that don’t take more than a minute, really.”

Kootenay Co-op Radio also reached out to both the City of Nelson and the Regional District of Central Kootenay regarding their waste management programs and bylaw enforcement. In an email, Stephanie Delnea, communications coordinator with the City of Nelson, said, “Preventing these situations requires all of us to work together. Simple actions such as picking fruit, securing garbage and removing attractants can make a significant difference in keeping bears wild and reducing risks to both animals and people.”

She noted that the city has installed bear-resistant garbage bins and removed fruit trees from city-owned land, among other initiatives to reduce food waste and wildlife attractants. Delnea also said that under the city’s waste management bylaw, “garbage and other attractants must be secured from wildlife, and garbage may only be put out for collection on the morning of pickup. Bylaw Services is working to ensure these requirements are being followed and continues to address unsecured garbage, unmanaged compost and other wildlife attractants when necessary.”