Bears found in central Nanaimo to be relocated, RCMP say

A bear sign is pictured in Nanaimo, B.C. (CTV News)

Mounties and conservation officers converged on a neighbourhood near Nanaimo Regional General Hospital Saturday after a bear and two cubs were spotted in the densely settled area.

Nanaimo RCMP said on Twitter around 3:15 p.m. that they were responding to the area near Moyse Crescent and Blythe Avenue.

"Keep pets inside as (the) situation is not contained," police warned at the time.

Less than an hour later, Mounties said the mother bear had been tranquilized and the cubs were being "rounded up."

Police said the trio would eventually be relocated.

Relocation is relatively uncommon for bears in B.C. While conservation officers killed more than 500 black bears in 2021, provincial statistics showed just 19 bears "translocated" – though it was unclear whether that total included all bears moved any distance by conservation officers or just those moved to an entirely new region.

Saturday's bear sighting followed two others reported in Nanaimo earlier this month. Each of those instances also involved a mother bear and two cubs. 

The first sighting was reported in the vicinity of Colliery Dam Park, while the second happened at Bowen Park, not far from where the bears were reported on Saturday.

City staff put up signs warning of bear activity in both parks and notified conservation officers of the situation.

At the time of the sightings, Charlotte Davis, the city's manager of parks operations, said the bears had not been described as aggressive. It's unclear whether the bears captured Saturday are the same ones spotted earlier in May. 

Black bears are typically killed in B.C. when they have shown signs of becoming accustomed to unnatural food sources – such as trash – or habituated to the presence of humans.

Included in the 2021 total were 77 cubs, many of which were not killed out of necessity, according to an animal-rights organization that has filed a complaint against the conservation officer service. 

In the first four months of this year, 39 black bears were killed by conservation officers in the province, and officers responded to just under 200 calls about the animals. Calls about bears to the BC Conservation Officer Service typically increase in the summer months. 

Tips for how to deal with a bear encounter can be found on the provincial government's website.