Manitoba Conservation defends bear shooting

Manitoba Conservation is defending a decision to kill a black bear that wandered near the popular shoreline at Grand Beach Provincial Park on Thursday.

Conservation spokesman Robert Belanger said there were so many people on the beach at the time, the only option was to kill the animal.

The bear was deemed a Category 3, which means it was agitated and in a crowded area. As such, it posed a danger to the public and trapping or tranquilizing it would not have been a safe option, he said.

"As soon as that dart goes into that bear, it does take some time to take effect and the last thing we want is an agitated bear, now with a dart in its butt, running around more agitated," Belanger said.

The bear was spotted hanging around the sand dunes near the West Beach change rooms off of Parking Lot 2.

Belanger said there were no conservation officers available at the time to shoot the bear, so the RCMP had to step in.

"I personally called the officer and told him to attend and I told him to look at the situation. He knows how we work and that's how it was dealt with," Belanger said.

Grand Beach is located about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg.