2 more bears shot at Grand Beach

Three bears have been shot and killed at Manitoba's popular Grand Beach north of Winnipeg in the past few days, including one Monday afternoon as the animal wandered dangerously close to a children's play area.

"We could not have run this bear anywhere safely," Manitoba Conservation spokesman Robert Belanger told CBC News.

He said officers took the first opportunity to take a safe shot and kill the bear Monday afternoon around 4:30 p.m as it wandered just a few feet from a children's playground at the West Beach area in Grand Beach Provincial Park. Officers had no choice but to kill the animal for the protection of public, he said. Tranquilizing the creature was not an option.

It was the third time in the past few days bears have wandered close to swimmers and sunlovers at Manitoba's most popular beach, one hour north of Winnipeg.

On Thursday, beachgoers watched as RCMP officers were called to take down a bear that wandered into the sand dunes between a parking lot and West Grand Beach.

And on Friday, a bear was shot and killed by Conservation officers near the main parking lot at Grand Beach, about 60 yards from the main concession area, Belanger said, adding it is the first time in his career he has seen so many bears intruding on the public beach area in so short a time span.

Officers had no choice but to kill the animals who are becoming more brazen and close to the public.

On Monday the beach was crammed with sunseekers. "The beach is packed here," Belanger said Monday afternoon. "And we tried moving it in one direction toward the lagoon but it wasn't moving. It was unfortunately put down."

Belanger told CBC the bears are getting closer to people because they're hungry and looking for food. Dry conditions have taken a toll on the berry crops this summer.