Sarah Morgan was working at her family’s pool and spa store in Kelowna, B.C., Wednesday when a black bear walked through the door and hopped into one of the empty hot tubs.
“It just walked right through our double bay doors,” she said. “My mom was behind the service counter and she was yelling, ‘Bear! Bear! Bear!’ … and the next thing you know he’s getting inside the hot tub.”
Morgan’s father was able to yell loud enough in order to scare the bear off, but the encounter is a reminder that bears can pop up nearly anywhere in the province as they come out of the winter season and start searching for food.
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More than 80,000 black bears have been killed by conservation officers in B.C. since 2011, after the animals were deemed too dangerous and habituated to humans to be relocated.
At least one animal has already been killed in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, after attacking a man on his property in Mission.
B.C.’s Ministry of Environment said the man tried to scare the sow off by making noise when it charged and swatted him.
The extent of his injuries have not been released publicly, but conservation officers say they were able to identify it as a sow that had a history in the area, and was not displaying a fear of humans, leading to it being killed.
“We recognize this incident and response may be distressing to people,” B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) Sgt. Jeremy Pauls said in a written statement.
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“In this case, it was determined that due to the location and nature of the attack, as well as its previous history that displayed comfort around people, the bear was dispatched to ensure public safety.”
Two yearlings were also captured but the BCCOS said they were yearlings and were not displaying problematic behaviour, and so were relocated into the wilderness.
Meanwhile, the BCCOS is looking into reports of two men hand feeding a grizzly bear in the Smithers area, near Hudson’s Bay Road.
The service says social media videos show a man in a vehicle feeding the bear a carrot. In another, a man is outside trying to feed it an apple as a second bear is in the background.
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“Feeding dangerous wildlife is not only illegal, but an extremely risky activity both for the safety of the person, as well as the bear,” conservation officer Cody Cyr said in a post.
“These individuals could have been seriously hurt, or worse. Feeding bears is not helping them. Feeding bears creates a public safety risk by conditioning the animals to human food and presence.”
The service reminded people to take steps not to attract bears into human environments, including securing food, garbage and other items that might lure them into becoming habituated.
The offence of attracting bears is up to $100,000 in fines and time in jail.
