Dear Bear Friends, I have sad news about the first bear death in North Vancouver between the Riverside and Berkley(Blueridge) areas this morning. This bear was seen near my home on May 7 and then remained in area until this morning. It was about 4 years old by his size and had a yellow tag in his right ear. People were complaining that this bear was habituated to people (not moving away with pots and pans and yelling) and conditioned to our garbage. added note: Relocation site West Harrison Lake Area-over 160kms away with mountains and rivers inbetween…we can assume that other bears forced this male bear out and back to orginal territory as social order is very strong within the resident bear populations especially where food sources are at a premium. Females are even more likely to trek back to home territories given they are as transient as males.

The Conservation Officers did haze the bear with two or three bangers at 8:30am but shot off a lethal round at 10:30am I believe. I was told by authorities that his tag was from the Harrison area….about 100miles away? Let’s hope this bear’s death makes people and our local government understand that it is ‘our’ responsibility to STOP this cycle of killing bears. It will surely persist if there are no proactive measures undertaken like those described in Wayne McCrory’s Bear Hazard Assessment Study. North Vancouver residents please go to one of the two open houses this week: May 18th 6:30pm to 9pm at Seniors Centre –Parkgate or May 25 District Hall at 6:30 to 9pm or go on line to see BHA Report and comment on it until June 4. Go to: www.dnv.org and just look up Bear Hazard Assessment Report.

Thank you,

Barb M