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Letter: Six bears were killed and it's humans' fault

The Editor, Re. " A deadly weekend for bears in PoCo ," (The Tri-City News, Dec. 5).
A Coquitlam resident snapped this picture in his Heritage Mountain neighbourhood of a mother bear an
A Coquitlam resident snapped this picture in his Heritage Mountain neighbourhood of a mother bear and cub looking for food on garbage day. According to data from BCCOS's Wildlife Alert Reporting Program, there has been a 45.9% increase in Coquitlam and a 137% rise in Port Moody in the first six months of 2019 compared to the same time period last year. Port Coquitlam’s numbers have fallen 25.2%.

The Editor,

Re. "A deadly weekend for bears in PoCo," (The Tri-City News, Dec. 5).

I am so angry that six bears, including cubs, had to be euthanized in and around Port Coquitlam's Fox Park, whether it was because they didn't have enough fat reserves to go into hibernation — probably due to their habitat been razed for housing — or because they did have ample food sources available to them due to people not securing their garbage and, thus, didn't have to look for natural food sources.

There is absolutely no excuse for people to not secure their garbage, especially when one bear family was active in an apartment complex. The strata for that complex should be fined big time. I don't know if it is out of ignorance, not knowing how to use the locks or people not wanting to use them. No excuses — go to the city to find out.

I agree with Coun. Dean Washington when he said that he never saw a bear until the city of Coquitlam started building on Burke Mountain. Developers took out thousands of trees and destroyed the bears' natural habitat. Where are the bears supposed to go?

Occasionally, I see articles in the papers about people who live on Burke Mountain complaining about bears in their areas. What did they expect?

The only thing the bears know is that their habitat has been taken away from them and they now have to look wherever they can go find food. Don't dare blame the bears. This is a human-caused problem.

Michelle Clayton, Coquitlam