A grizzly bear that was hanging around Dohler and Ebeneezer Flats recently has been relocated by local conservation officers.
After two weeks of trying to capture it, officers were able to trap it on Wednesday morning.
“He was a healthy male, about four years old and approximately between 550-600 lbs,” said Acting Sergeant in Smithers Ron Leblanc.
He said it is unusual to see a grizzly bear so close to town.
“People in that area, the residences where he was seen around, said they’ve lived there for a number of years and never seen a grizzly that close to town,” he said.
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He was tagged and relocated a couple of hours south of Houston.
Leblanc said they try to relocate rather than destroy an animal.
“Depending on the bear’s actions, will dictate how we handle that animal,” he said. “This bear hadn’t gotten himself into trouble. He was just a little too close to town and getting into people’s property and we wanted to move him out of town before he had a chance to get into any trouble.”
He added they are happy with the outcome and thankful for the neighbours for calling in sightings.
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“It helped us to get him located and moved off to another area where he could grow old.
We figured he was just a young guy looking for his own piece of territory and this was unoccupied so that is why we think he migrated over this way.”
Meanwhile, most bears should start hibernating about now.
“We haven’t had a bear complaint for a few days now so we hope things have calmed down and bears are tight in their dens,” said Leblanc.
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