British Columbia’s Conservation Officer Service (COS) says a grizzly bear on a small island off the Sunshine Coast has been shot and killed.
The bear will undergo a necropsy, the COS said in a Facebook post.
Earlier in the day, the service said it was investigating an RCMP report that the bear was shot and possibly wounded by a member of the public in the Van Anda neighbourhood of Texada Island, near Powell River.
The grizzly was first spotted on Texada on May 25. The bear has sparked debate among the residents of the 300-square-kilometre island, which is home to just under 1,200 people.
Some residents wanted the bear moved or killed, while others wanted it to be left alone.
Texada doesn’t usually play host to large predators as it sits between the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island in British Columbia’s Strait of Georgia. Wildlife management experts say it’s likely the bear swam to the island from Powell River.
Three coastal First Nations had worked together to come up with a plan to move the grizzly bear, but the province had not signed off.
The Conservation Officer Service previously told CBC News in a written statement that the adult male grizzly, estimated to be five years old, was not a good candidate for relocation because it had already been moved twice.
The service said the bear had already been relocated after it was found wandering near schools and downtown areas of Gibsons and Sechelt, on the B.C. mainland last year.
What should happen to the grizzly bear on Texada Island?
After being moved to Vancouver Bay — partway up Jervis Inlet, about 50 kilometres north of Sechelt — the grizzly returned to the Sunshine Coast. It was then relocated even further north to the far end of Jervis Inlet.
The statement also included a list of problematic behaviour the bear has engaged in this year, including:
The statement also said there have been multiple sightings of the bear near a school, a store and farms on Texada.
