A black bear that wandered into a pharmacy in Hope, B.C., with her cub has been killed by conservation officers.
The two bears entered the Wallace Street Pharmasave at about 2 p.m. PT on Sunday afternoon, and spent eight minutes roaming the aisles.
“One of [the staff] yelled out, ‘Bear!'” employee Kara Kelso explained. “I immediately turned to say, ‘Yes?’ because that’s my nickname.
“But no, there was actually a bear in the store.”
Kelso said she cleared the shop of customers and phoned for help, as the mother bear and her cub perused the cosmetics.
“She checked out the makeup. We didn’t have her shade of lipstick,” she joked.
“She did absolutely no damage, she was completely unengaged … and eventually she just strolled out the door and went on her way.”
Conservation officers kill bear in Hope, B.C., after cub spotted at pharmacy
In a statement the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said the bears were found in a residential neighbourhood nearby, where they were tranquilized and taken in for assessment.
“The sow [was] confirmed to be the same animal that entered the store and with a conflict history in the area,” the statement said.
She was killed, and her cub was released into a wilderness area, both decisions made by provincial wildlife biologists.
“Bears that … frequent populated areas and enter homes or stores are not candidates for relocation or rehabilitation, due to the risk to public safety,” the statement said.
The Hope Mountain Black Bear Committee’s chair Lydia Koot described the situation as “really sad.”
“We have had a huge amount of bears [this year], they’re hungry because there’s nothing in the forest, it’s all dried up,” she said
Large swaths of wilderness close to Hope burned during the wildfire season this summer, and extreme weather events have hit berry crops hard, reducing the availability of food sources.
Koot said it was only natural for bears to turn to urban areas.
“We have crabapple trees and mountain ash and green grass — and garbage of course,” she said.
Even without the added pressures, September is a challenging time for bears in British Columbia, as they look to increase their caloric intake and build up fat for winter hibernation.
Lesley Fox with wildlife advocacy organization The Fur Bearers said the pair in Hope had likely been desperate for a food source.
“Every day, they need about 20,000 calories to help them prepare,” said
“No doubt there were some curious smells, and she was probably following her nose.”
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She said there were simple steps people could take to minimize the chances of an interaction with bears.
“By being good citizens, locking up our garbage, picking up fallen fruit, not leaving pet food outside … these are steps that we can take to coexist and create some space for these animals.”
