Conservation

Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks Guardian Gisele Martin shares a moment with an old growth tree. The provincial government is currently accepting public submissions for plans for two conservancies in Clayoquot Sound following discussions with Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations. (Submitted photo)

B.C.’s ‘war in the woods’ battlegrounds to be permanently protected

10 new conservancies announced to protect Vancouver Island’s Clayoquot Sound

 

The B.C. Conservation Service is asking people to be extra cautious while walking their pets, after an elderly woman’s dog was attacked by a coyote in South Vancouver on April 25, 2024. In attempting to rescue her dog, the woman was bit by the coyote, the conservation service says. (Pixabay)

Conservation office urges coyote caution after elderly woman bit in Vancouver

Woman was walking alone at night with her dogs off leash when 4 coyotes approached them

 

Two bears were killed in Pitt Meadows, resulting in a fine of more than $7,000 to the man who shot them. The bears pictured here were captured in a photograph by local photographer and conservationist Ross Davies. (Special to The News)

Pitt Meadows man fined for killing two bears

Must pay $7,360 after shooting bears drawn to property by beehive parts

 

A monarch butterfly at the Insectarium in Montreal, on Wednesday, November 9, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

Butterflies in my backyard going national for 2024

BIMBY season is beginning, and they’re inviting everyone to take photos of butterflies across Canada

A monarch butterfly at the Insectarium in Montreal, on Wednesday, November 9, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)
Conservation officers seized a 9-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack on March 26, 2024. (Conservation Officer Service)

9-foot Burmese python seized by conservation officers from Chilliwack

Python being cared for at ‘undisclosed location’ after being removed by specially trained officers

Conservation officers seized a 9-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack on March 26, 2024. (Conservation Officer Service)
BC Timber Sales plans to harvest trees on Spallumcheen’s Rose Swanson Mountain, but a grassroots effort to create a conservancy is in the works to ensure the mountian’s non-timber values are preserved. (Danica Djordjevich photo)

Conservancy in the works to protect North Okanagan mountain from logging

Community advocates are looking to protect Rose Swanson Mountain, which BC Timber Sales plans to log

BC Timber Sales plans to harvest trees on Spallumcheen’s Rose Swanson Mountain, but a grassroots effort to create a conservancy is in the works to ensure the mountian’s non-timber values are preserved. (Danica Djordjevich photo)
Red panda cubs Maple and Mei Mei have moved to new homes at other Canadian zoos involved in efforts to preserve this endangered species, explained animal care manager Brian Sheehan. The twins were born at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove in June of 2022. (Screengrab, Greater Vancouver Zoo/Special to The Star)

VIDEO: Twin red panda cubs move on, new babies expected

Greater Vancouver Zoo continues its efforts to preserve, enhance endangered species

Red panda cubs Maple and Mei Mei have moved to new homes at other Canadian zoos involved in efforts to preserve this endangered species, explained animal care manager Brian Sheehan. The twins were born at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove in June of 2022. (Screengrab, Greater Vancouver Zoo/Special to The Star)
Environmental groups say a recent court decision must spur quick action from the federal government to better protect critical migratory bird habitat from old-growth logging and other destruction. A marbled murrelet is shown in mid flight over the waters near Mitlenatch Island, B.C., in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Deb Freeman

Court ruling called a win for B.C.’s threatened migratory bird population

Court called federal focus on ‘nests’ too narrow, advocates want protection focused on habitat

Environmental groups say a recent court decision must spur quick action from the federal government to better protect critical migratory bird habitat from old-growth logging and other destruction. A marbled murrelet is shown in mid flight over the waters near Mitlenatch Island, B.C., in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Deb Freeman
A Prince George man faces a $6,000 penalty and a two-year hunting ban following a 2021 investigation by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service for illegal possession of a prohibited weapon and dead wildlife. (Twitter/BC Conservation Officer Service)

B.C. man fined $6K after moose head, other dead wildlife found in freezer

Travais Galbraith pleaded guilty in January, also given 2-year hunting ban

A Prince George man faces a $6,000 penalty and a two-year hunting ban following a 2021 investigation by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service for illegal possession of a prohibited weapon and dead wildlife. (Twitter/BC Conservation Officer Service)
Crew members at a watercraft inspection site in Golden decontaminated a boat from Ontario that had invasive mussels on board. (Conservation Officer Service/Facebook)

Conservation dog detects invasive mussels on boat bound for B.C. waters

Boat quarantined for 30 days, owner fined $230

Crew members at a watercraft inspection site in Golden decontaminated a boat from Ontario that had invasive mussels on board. (Conservation Officer Service/Facebook)
University of British Columbia master’s student Megan Winand holds a frog in this undated handout photo. Winand is one of the first to study the impacts of mitigation translocation, or the movement of animals from one location to “the next available habitat that is of the same or better value than where they came from.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Madeline Woodley

B.C. frog relocation project aims to better understand conservation practice

Frogs are an indicator species, meaning they’re often the first to reveal when something is amiss

University of British Columbia master’s student Megan Winand holds a frog in this undated handout photo. Winand is one of the first to study the impacts of mitigation translocation, or the movement of animals from one location to “the next available habitat that is of the same or better value than where they came from.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Madeline Woodley
A grizzly bear that was relocated from Squamish in September 2020 was found dead in the Squamish River on Aug. 10, 2023, BC Conservation Officer Service says. It was illegally killed and believed to have been dragged to the river for disposal. (BCCOS)

Grizzly bear shot and killed, dragged into Squamish River

BC Conservation Officer Service says the bear was relocated from Squamish in 2020

A grizzly bear that was relocated from Squamish in September 2020 was found dead in the Squamish River on Aug. 10, 2023, BC Conservation Officer Service says. It was illegally killed and believed to have been dragged to the river for disposal. (BCCOS)
A black bear looking at a photographer from a porch in Harrison Hot Springs. (Haslettphoto)

Tree planter airlifted to hospital after bear attack near Tumbler Ridge

Victim airlifted to hospital in Prince George

A black bear looking at a photographer from a porch in Harrison Hot Springs. (Haslettphoto)
Alaina Miller set up a memorial near Thetis Lake Regional Park for a mother bear euthanized by Conservation Officers Friday (June 23) over concerns it posed a public safety risk. A group of neighbours are now calling for changes in the community to prevent another incident like this. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)

‘Absolutely devastating’: View Royal teen mourns after mother bear euthanized

Community mourning after bear put down to ‘ensure public safety’

Alaina Miller set up a memorial near Thetis Lake Regional Park for a mother bear euthanized by Conservation Officers Friday (June 23) over concerns it posed a public safety risk. A group of neighbours are now calling for changes in the community to prevent another incident like this. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)
Two marmots explore the outdoors on "Invitation" run at Mount Washington on June 28. (Connor McDowell/Comox Valley Record)

VIDEO: ‘Disgustingly cute’ marmots start new life on B.C. ski hill

Year-old pups join the wild on Vancouver Island after being born and raised in captivity

Two marmots explore the outdoors on "Invitation" run at Mount Washington on June 28. (Connor McDowell/Comox Valley Record)
Grasslands known as Bunchgrass Hills, south of Kamloops, B.C., are shown in a handout photo. More than 60 square kilometres of at-risk grassland in British Columbia’s southern Interior will be protected forever, as part of the newest conservation project in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nature Conservancy of Canada

Protection coming for large tract of threatened grassland south of Kamloops

Bunchgrass Hills protection secures vital habitat and safe pathways for dozens of species

Grasslands known as Bunchgrass Hills, south of Kamloops, B.C., are shown in a handout photo. More than 60 square kilometres of at-risk grassland in British Columbia’s southern Interior will be protected forever, as part of the newest conservation project in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nature Conservancy of Canada
A black bear looking at a photographer from a porch in Harrison Hot Springs. (Haslettphoto)

Prince George was B.C’s deadliest community for black bears last year

Provincially, 500 black bears were killed by conservation officers in 2022, a 14% decrease from 2021

A black bear looking at a photographer from a porch in Harrison Hot Springs. (Haslettphoto)
Western painted turtles get their name from their western distribution and their finely detailed red, yellow and green markings. (John G. Woods photo)

Man caught snatching endangered turtles from Kelowna pond

Conservation Officers caught the man and want to remind the public that wildlife must stay wild

Western painted turtles get their name from their western distribution and their finely detailed red, yellow and green markings. (John G. Woods photo)
Two Northern Spotted Owls have been found dead, bringing the critically endangered species’ wild population back down to one. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

Death of 2 Northern Spotted Owls brings population in B.C. wilderness down to 1

The owls deaths were discovered earlier this month says Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart

Two Northern Spotted Owls have been found dead, bringing the critically endangered species’ wild population back down to one. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)
There’s a family of four red pandas at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, following the delivery of twin cubs – one girl, one boy – last June. Now they need names. (Screengrab Greater Vancouver Zoo)

Twin red panda cubs need names

Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove is holding a contest for naming rights – prizes included

There’s a family of four red pandas at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, following the delivery of twin cubs – one girl, one boy – last June. Now they need names. (Screengrab Greater Vancouver Zoo)