Animals

Campbell River among BC’s worst communities for putting down black bears in 2025

Campbell River had one of the province’s worst records for putting down black bears in 2025. The BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) dispatched 13 black bears in the village of Ucluelet, but the city of Campbell River and District of Sechelt tied for second place at 7 kills each. This puts them ahead of larger city’s like Prince George (5 kills), Kamloops (4 kills) and Kelowna (2), as well as every other community in British Columbia.

(Screenshot from 2025 Black Bear statistics by community – COS)

It has only been months since Blake Pedersson posted a video showing people gathering around a black bear eating fish on the Campbell River. Someone advanced to within a few feet of the creature to take pictures, then reached out to touch it. A spectator yelled out, ‘Dude don’t touch the bear’ just as the animal reared it’s head. 

The Quinsam Campground, in Elk Falls Provincial Park, closed for two months after a black bear damaged an unoccupied tent in November.

This has been an ongoing problem. It has been almost four years since Sergeant Mike Newton, a Conservation Officer with the Ministry of Environment, told city council, “Whether the bears are seen or not, they are there in every area of Campbell River. You can bet on that for sure. The dogs will quite often keep them more sneaky and nocturnal. People think, oh, you can use a bear banger to chase a bear off of your garbage and it won’t come back. You cannot haze a bear away from an attractant once it’s getting into that food source.”

The city of Campbell River has repeatedly warned residents that they are in bear country. People living near parkland or heavily forested areas need to be especially careful. Residents are advised to store garbage in bear-proof containers and sprinkle compost with lime to help with decomposition and reduce odours. Other tips include cleaning barbecues immediately after use, storing pet food inside, and only putting bird feeders out in the winter.

2023 was the worst year on record, for putting down bears in northern Vancouver Island, but some are killed every year. In 2024, the COS killed 6 bears in Campbell River. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Campbell River put down 13, 13, and 11 bears, respectively. 

Meanwhile in the neighbouring Discovery Islands, a grizzly bear visited Quadra Island during the summer of 2021. There haven’t been any problems reported on Cortes Island since 2020-21, when local residents had to be reminded to not put out attractants. The Whaletown Bear was reputedly shot and the Squirrel Cove Bear disappeared. It was to have been put down, but eluded the COS and many hope it swam away.

The Friends of Cortes Island posted a primer for co-existing with bears on their website.

Links of Interest:

Images: Top photo credit – Black Bears on Rockland Road, Campbell River – Photo by Amy Forest; Screenshot of the top half of 2025 Black Bear statistics by community – Conservation Officer Service

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