A black bear was euthanized on Monday after wandering near a Burnaby elementary school.
The BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) responded to a black bear sighting near Cascade Heights Elementary at around 3 pm on May 29.
“The bear was not observed to be displaying any aggressive behaviour towards people,” COS told Daily Hive via email.
COS then tracked the black bear to a tree where it was tranquillized and removed from the area.
Cascade Heights Elementary is located on Smith Street in Burnaby. On its website, the school said that a “shelter in place” was activated when classes were about to be dismissed.
“A shelter in place means that students and staff are kept inside the building for safety until the safety issue on the outside is dealt with,” said Cascade Heights in the notice.
Sgt. Todd Hunter of COS told Daily Hive that the bear was put down yesterday evening.
“We had a look at the background history for that particular bear and found it to have significant history in the last few weeks displaying abnormal behavioural conditions to human food sources. The response to that according to our policy is to put (the bear) down.”
Hunter says that the public needs to take precaution by making sure garbage and food waste is kept in secured bins.
“We have got to get some help from the public,” said Hunter. “Bottom line is that people are contributing to these issues with unsecured food waste being stored outside.”
If you spot a black bear near garbage or in a public setting contact BC Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
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