A remote community of the Owekino Indian Nation also depends on the fish for food. Environmentalists attribute the shortage to overfishing and poor logging practices that allow choking sediments to run into streams. Conservation officers worry that most bears went into hibernation undernourished last year, and may cause even more trouble when they emerge this spring. But some think that killing bears is unnecessary. This large number of bears simply should not have been shot on the spot the way they were.
Some environmentalists think relocation is a viable option to killing.
But British Columbia's Environment Division disagrees. Most relocated bears try to return home, according to wildlife officials. Others become stressed, fail to mate and become nuisances in their unfamiliar surroundings. This black bear was one of the unlucky ones Without sufficient natural food supplies, relocating bears merely postpones the inevitable, causing a slower and more painful death, experts say. It's really a tragic situation from our perspective.