A woman from Whistler has been ordered to pay $60,000 after officials said she violated the Wildlife Act in British Columbia.
In July 2018, the Conservation Officer Service (COS), a public safety agency that specializes in the prevention of human-wildlife conflict, received a complaint that someone was feeding black bears in the neighborhood.
Officials began investigating the woman in question and found she had been feeding black bears during the summer months of 2018. According to authorities, the woman would purchase “bulk produce” every week.
“Bulk produce — including up to 10 cases of apples, 50 pounds of carrots and up to 15 dozen eggs — was purchased on a weekly basis to feed the bears,” the Conservation Officer Service Sgt. Simon Gravel said Friday on Facebook. “These activities created an extraordinary public safety risk by conditioning bears to human food and presence.”
In September of 2018, wildlife officials were forced to euthanize three bears that damaged property in the residential area; more importantly, these bears demonstrated no fear toward people, officials said.
The bears were used to getting food from the woman, so they could not be rehabilitated or relocated.
“Illegally feeding or placing attractants to lure dangerous wildlife, such as bears, is an extremely dangerous activity,” the Conservation Officer said on Facebook. “Once bears learn to associate humans with food, it creates a public safety risk.”
The penalty of $60,000 is the highest punitive action taken under the Wildlife Act, officials said. Authorities hope it is a “precedent-setting case.”
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