A black bear spotted strolling through backyards in the area of Woodbine Crescent on Friday afternoon has been euthanized.
Sgt. Steve Jacobi, a conservation officer, said the bear had been relocated last year after entering into neighbourhoods.
He said they had received many calls through the last few weeks about the bear again entering people’s yards. It was also spotted near a gas station and a convenience store.
“He was relocated last year … He was doing basically the same thing (this year) and we kind of gave him one chance to smarten up.”
Jacobi said the bear’s behaviour did not change.
“He’s lost all fear of people. He has clearly stepped outside the boundaries of it being safe at all for people. He was running through backyards, neighbourhoods – he has no fear. Not even any fear of us (conservation officers), which is really unusual,” Jacobi said.
He said there would be no way to safely relocate the bear.
“It’s unfortunate that we had to put him down, but in the end, it is public safety.”
The bear had ended up in the backyard of Albert and Wilma Sevenhuysen, who live on Green Avenue. Their daughter, Sylvia, was home when the bear came through the yard.
She said the bear tried to get into the bird feeders, then moved towards the koi pond, and then to the chicken coop. He got into the coop and killed a chicken, then jumped up on the roof of a shed and ate the chicken.
She said she called 911, who advised her to bang pots and pans together to try to scare the bear aware, but the bear climbed in.
Jacobi said conservation officers had to tranquilize the bear on site and then the bear was removed and put down.
