Grizzly bear family returns to Nelson, B.C., after attempted relocation

The City of Nelson in B.C. is warning that a family of grizzly bears has returned to the community after an attempted relocation earlier this week.

In a notice published online, the city says the mother bear and two yearlings have once again been spotted in the community of roughly 11,000 people in B.C.'s West Kootenay region, about 190 kilometres west of the border with Alberta.

The city is asking anyone who sees the bears to report it to the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277 or online.

Residents are also reminded to secure garbage and reduce attractants such as fruit, bird feeders and uncleaned barbecues.

'Super unusual' for bears to be in city

Nelson resident Tobias Gray said in an interview with CBC News earlier this week that the bears had been around his neighbourhood for roughly two weeks before the attempted relocation.

"We had a good text chain going on with neighbours," he said. "They were a little too close for comfort."

He said when he saw them in his yard, the bears were primarily eating clover, but that there was also a large amount of fruit hanging from apple trees that have taken root in nearby woods.

Lisa Thomson, the regional co-ordinator with conservation charity WildSafeBC, told the Canadian Press on Monday that it was "super unusual" because grizzlies prefer to be in the mountains, but they may have been attracted to an abundance of fruit left hanging on trees in the Nelson area.

As the bears began to move into neighbourhoods and people's backyards, she said there was a risk they could become habituated to humans and conditioned to the available food.

Thomson said a bear biologist from Cranbrook, B.C., was called in and provincial officials, including conservation officers and those with B.C.'s Fish and Wildlife branch, trapped and relocated the bears to an area with plenty of shelter and natural food sources.

A radio collar was placed on the sow and the male cubs, which appeared to be about 2½ years old, all seemed to be in "great shape," Thomson said.

Grizzly bear warnings across region

Nelson is just one of a number of locations near mountain ranges along the B.C.-Alberta border that are dealing with grizzly bears at the moment. On Thursday, Alberta Parks issued two separate notices following bear encounters in a pair of popular recreation areas in Kananaskis Country, west of Calgary.

And one week ago, two campers were killed by a grizzly bear during a backcountry camping trip in Banff National Park.

Grizzly chases herd of bighorn sheep in Kananaskis

1 year ago

Duration 0:55

Cody Bilben was getting ready to hike at Elbow Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park on Oct. 2 when he saw a grizzly barrel down the highway chasing bighorn sheep.

Elsewhere in B.C., two grizzly bears were recently spotted near downtown Quesnel, in the province's Cariboo region.

In addition to removing garbage and other attractants, people travelling through areas with grizzly bears are advised to make noise, travel in groups, and keep pets on a leash.

Bear complaints up across B.C.

According to statistics from B.C.'s conservation officer service, there have been a high number of bear complaints in the province this year — although the primary concern has been black bears rather than grizzly bears.

In August, 5,963 calls about black bears were received by conservation officers in B.C., nearly double the previous high of 2,366 calls recorded in 2011.

Likewise, a total of 151 black bears were destroyed by conservation officers, compared to 91 in 2011 and just 50 in 2022.

For grizzly bears, there were 106 calls in August, 130 in July and 153 in June, also higher than in previous years, with a total of eight destroyed over the course of those three months — about the same as in previous years.