Editor:
All of Canmore is disgraced when a bear family is executed because we cannot follow the rules we have made for ourselves. How could it be that Canmore residents and businesses were allowed to provide food attractants to this bear family – as written in the Oct. 6 Outlook – for so many days?
According to Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers, the bears were “feeding in a downtown dumpster over a period of several nights.” How did the province determine this? Why didn’t the Town know the food attractants were present? How is it the dumpster was available to bears over “several nights?” Why was there no enforcement of Town and provincial laws over this time? Why wasn’t the dumpster secured properly at any time during those “three days?”
The bears’ access wasn’t “blatant.” The residents’ and business-owner’s illegal and thoughtless behaviour were “blatant.” And the Town’s inability to observe and respond appropriately was irresponsible and “blatant.”
And then, as we all recall, “a mamma bear and her cub were relocated on Aug. 29 after feasting on a fruit tree in downtown Canmore off 10th Street.” Did the Town prosecute this landowner for violating Canmore’s wildlife attractant bylaws? If not, why?
No, this mamma black bear and her three cubs were not killed for public safety reasons. This bear family was deliberately executed and eliminated from the Bow Valley population because Canmore is having a hell of a time living up to its own human-wildlife coexistence guidelines, and its otherwise exemplary WildSmart program. Last year was much the same, wasn’t it?
So, our question is this: What will council—and Canmore—start to do differently tomorrow to reduce the likelihood of this happening next year? Or the next? Or even next week?
Canmore, and wildlife in the Bow Valley, certainly deserve better.
Valerie & Jim Pissot,
Canmore
