Update on Squirrel Cove Bear
Cortes Currents
English - June 18, 2021 14:39 - 8 minutes - 19.7 MBNews cortes island discovery islands quadra food security energy indigenous nations Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Roy L Hales/ CKTZ News - Last November, a Black Bear started raiding the fruit trees, garbage cans and compost piles in homes backing onto Basil Creek, on Cortes Island. In response to a complaint, the Conservation Officer Service brought a trap over to the island. If they had caught the bear, it would have been put down – but the Squirrel Cove Bear escaped.
As Autumn Barrett-Morgan, a volunteer co-ordinator with the Friends of Cortes Island’s wildlife COEXistence program, explained last December, “The Conservation Officer was called by someone in Squirrel Cove. This resident was feeling very fearful of the bear breaking into their home, so the Conservation Officer had no choice but to bring a trap here. Once the bear is trapped, it will be put down.”
Only, it turns out they did not catch the bear.
Yesterday, Conservation Officer Chris Hamlyn confirmed all of this, adding that was last year. If the Conservation Officer service does not receive any fresh complaints, they will not return. Hamlyn says whether the bear lives, or not, is up to the people of Cortes Island.
Photo credit: Bear by Chris Grier via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)