The Editor,
Re. "Bears are dying and provincial government must review BCCOS" (Opinion, The Tri-City News, Jan. 23), "Anmore couple rescues bear cub but faces BC Conservation investigation" and "Anmore couple that helped bear cub not in trouble" (tricitynews.com).
I have a hard time believing that we are placing most of the blame for trouble bears on conservation officers.
I live in Port Coquitlam and we have seen a bear walk down our street many times just looking for an easy meal. There are many citizens who are very careless over and over and that is why the bears will continue to walk through our neighbourhoods. During the spring and summer months, there is also another reason they come: There are large patches of delicious blackberries that they can smell and are part of their diets.
People have to understand what these animals are there for and why. It's not only bears roaming our neighbourhoods, either; there are also coyotes, skunks and those pesky raccoons. I have seen more coyotes in the area more often than a bear and you should be concerned more about this as they will eat your cat or small dog, unlike a bear.
While bears are omnivores, they mostly feed on plants and berries when they can. They also root for grubs and other bugs. We all know we see them during that special time when the salmon are running up our local streams as well and signs get posted to help warn people but some still choose to ignore these warnings and when they have an encounter, they blame the city or conservation officers.
Just look at the mountains around us. Where do we live and continue to build our houses? In the animals' homes. They have lived here long before we did.
As our population continues to grow and we cut down more forrest to build our houses, expanding into the mountains and occupying the lands where the bears, coyotes, skunk and raccoons live, it is inevitable that we will see these native creatures in our streets and our backyards. We continue to push them from their habitat and just because we build some houses, we should not be so naive that we should not see them around.
And as we grow, they will die.
There will always be a fight for survival as we are destroying the bears' food sources and contaminating the soil and surrounding creeks and rivers.
Think, people: What is in your garbage and how secure is it? We will have to live smarter and remember, we don't live in the city, we live in the forest and mountains.
And the animal occupants deserve respect as they unwillingly gave up their homes to make way for ours.
Grant Jones, Port Coquitlam
