Alberta wildlife officers kill 12 bears at dump
 
 
August 14, 2009

 
This handout photo from the Colorado Division of Wildlife taken July 
26, 2001 and released to Reuters August 31, 2007 shows a black bear in 
trash dumpster in a residential neighborhood in Colorado. Wildlife 
officers there killed dozens of black bears after catching the 
marauding bruins rummaging through campsites, foraging in neighborhood 
trash cans and breaking into homes for food after weather conditions 
decimated the species natural food supply this year. Wildlife officers 
shot and killed 12 black bears at a landfill in northern Alberta on 
Tuesday in what is believed to be the largest bear cull in recent 
history. People who lived near the dump regularly brought their 
children to the site to watch, photograph and feed the bears, and the 
animals had become accustomed to people.
 
More Images »
 
This handout photo from the Colorado Division of Wildlife taken July 
26, 2001 and released to Reuters August 31, 2007 shows a black bear in 
trash dumpster in a residential neighborhood in Colorado. Wildlife 
officers there killed dozens of black bears after catching the 
marauding bruins rummaging through campsites, foraging in neighborhood 
trash cans and breaking into homes for food after weather conditions 
decimated the species natural food supply this year. Wildlife officers 
shot and killed 12 black bears at a landfill in northern Alberta on 
Tuesday in what is believed to be the largest bear cull in recent 
history. People who lived near the dump regularly brought their 
children to the site to watch, photograph and feed the bears, and the 
animals had become accustomed to people.
Photograph by: Michael Seraphin, Reuters

EDMONTON — Wildlife officers shot and killed 12 black bears at a 
landfill in northern Alberta on Tuesday in what is believed to be the 
largest bear cull in recent history.

People from the hamlet of Conklin, population 166, regularly bring 
their children to the dump to watch, photograph and feed the bears, and 
the animals had become accustomed to people.

“The landfill had improper fencing and there were reports people were 
feeding the bears,” Alberta Sustainable Resource Development spokesman 
Darcy Whiteside said. “It was public safety concern. These bears were 
not afraid of humans anymore.”

But critics said the mass killing was inexcusable.

“Instead of investing in fences that would keep the bears out of the 
garbage and away from humans, they decide the cheapest solution is to 
lay to waste a bunch of living animals as if they didn’t have a right 
to exist. It’s really deplorable,” said Sid Marty, a park warden turned 
activist who recently published a book about a garbage-seeking grizzly 
who mauled five people in Banff, Alta., in the early 1980s, killing 
one.

“What are they going to, shoot every bear that comes to the dump until 
the end of time?”

On Aug. 5, the ministry received a bear complaint from the PTI Conklin 
Lodge, a housing complex for about 300 oilsands workers, about two 
kilometres from the dump.

Fred Bannon, vice-president of operations, said the manager called fish 
and wildlife officers after he saw five bears climbing on decks and 
hanging around the buildings.

The bears were killed Aug. 11.

A Conklin resident who wished to remain anonymous was outraged when he 
heard the bears were killed instead of relocated, and contacted The 
Edmonton Journal.

“It’s totally inhumane. We are in their environment, there are no 
fences, this dump is unmanned, there are no signs to say don’t feed the 
bears,” he said.

The ministry is currently working with communities as part of its new 
Bear Smart education campaign, he said, and Conklin is on the list of 
future communities to work with. In the meantime, officers will be 
monitoring the area and making sure people don’t go to the dump to 
visit the bears.

He said Alberta Environment and the municipality are responsible for 
ensuring proper fencing is in place to protect bears and humans. “The 
fencing issue has been addressed with the municipality. It’s not our 
responsibility to build the fence around the landfill.”