In a statement, a spokesperson for the BC Conservation Service confirmed that the agency was called to Burnaby’s Central Park on Saturday afternoon. On the same day, videos posted online showed a bear on the field and soccer field and later wandering along a hiking and biking path near the SkyTrain tracks — in both cases coming within feet of park visitors. The bear was first tranquilized, according to an emailed statement from the province. “After evaluation, the bear was put down due to its behavior compromising public safety,” it said, adding that the process includes consideration of the risk to humans as well as the animal’s likelihood of survival in the wild. “Putting down any bear or cub is an unfortunate outcome that we work so hard to prevent… Bears that have been conditioned to humans or are dependent on non-natural food sources are not candidates for relocation or rehabilitation.” The agency reminds people to minimize the chance of bear encounters by securing attractants such as trash, pet food and bird seed. Two weeks ago, a black bear was spotted by residents of a neighborhood on the Vancouver-Burnaby border. The police were called to the scene, where they shot and killed the animal. Advocates say cooler-than-average spring weather has reduced the salmon crop this year, prompting more black bears to enter residential neighborhoods in search of food. The most recent data from the province on reports of black bear encounters is from April of this year. There were 935 calls received, 133 reports investigated and 23 bears destroyed by the BC Conservation Service. These are the highest numbers recorded in publicly available data, which date back to 2011.
