sho Mow out and

there. was a -” Stunned
among the
who. had

up. in the tree on i the
“where

A} young boy turned to me
for reassurance as he asked,

pellet?” All I could offer him
was the stark reality of what.
had- ‘happened. “No,” I to’
him, ‘ ‘it was the real thing.”

‘.

= I wasn’t alone with my

confused emotions.

of his colleagues and
commented: “So that’s how
they: ook after . them, is it.
Theys Shoot them.”

- The: ‘man: who had pulled
the trigger, Doug Adolf, the
Fish. ‘and Wildlife con-
servation officer for the
North Shore, was also
clearly. shakén as he ‘ap-
proached me and blurted
out:

““T want you to tell it just
the way it was. There was a
dangerous black bear in a
residential area, threatening
the safety of people_and it
was shot. And that's all that

needs to be said. I ‘had no .

other choice.” :

‘there was more that .

young’ ‘conservation - officer
clearly felt when he called
after I'd arrived back at the

office Jater Monday af-
ternoon.
He told me: he'd spent two

hours on the’ trail ‘of the

black bear and had hoped

he’d be able to lure it into
the live bear trap he had
towed on the back of his

“© station wagon and which he

had ended up using to
remove the corpse.

He'd had various calls rm “When we have 10-15 bear

from anxious Lynn Valley
residents who, had spotted
the bear as he followed its

progress, first on Kilmer

Place, then to Chamberlain
Drive and on ta the corner of

. Prederick Road and Hen-
- decourt Street where he shot

the animal.

The RCMP had got it off
.. the street and into the tree,
<. he said, by driving straight at
it, with headlights turned
on. Then, he said, residents
had begun to goad the bear
and make it angry.

‘tree into the yard at 1025

.then that Adolf had to
the: black bear ‘sitting

. fifle through the gap and
fired. at point blank range. —

“Did they use a:tranquilljzer_

An —Wilson later confirmed to
SPCA officer turned to one —me that that was correct and

added that there are nowso- \ |
taany bears wandering \ i
’ around the North Shore that .

. other bears being shot and.

: Vancouver this summer. | :

“officers do not make a
_ bears that réach civilization,

policy”. os

“This v was 5 the point I saw
the bear clamber down the-

Frederick. Road and it was

abandon~any hope he had
had of takifi ifig the bearalive.

POINT THLANK

opening at the fence by the
sidewalk, Adolf poked his

old me the choice of
using a tranquillizer had not
evenarisen as Fish and Wild*
Life

only have one
tranquillizer gun and it was —

fi. : rd that day.

Regional supervisor Bert

Fe

the situation . is beyond
controlling with tranquillizer
guns. -

“If we -had to get a
tranquillizer every time
there was a bear complaint,
it’s just an impossibility,” he
said, agreeing that the.
situation was such that
people could expect to see

live-trapped .' in. North

Asked why conservation

practice.. of © " tranquillizing -

he. ‘answered: “It’s not our:

“Pressed as to why not,
added: “Gracious alive. It's. |
not our policy to tranquillize .
every bear.” -

“We have this’ huge
number of bears on the
North Shore so where are we _
going to move them? If we |
have a population beyond
reason TI see nothing wrong.
‘with removing’: them by
whatever means.

‘OUT OF CONTROL’ »

calls a day I think it is out of -
control. We have a man
running his legs off, with
nine to 10 calls before nine
o'clock for him.”

“We don't
them except
tenuating

tranquillize
under ex-
circumstances

a ACL TRADES
ALL SUBURBS
a 7 DAYS A WEEK

24 HOURS A DAY

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Tilers - Concrete Contractors - Orywalling
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Each self amptoyed tradesman estimates competitivaly —
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ANY TRADE — EVERY TRADE

ONE CALL DOES IT ALL

Coramic
Handymen
- Cabindt Makers

“WITH ONE SWING, the black bear was slung into thé
‘tubular cage that conservation officer Adolf said he |
had intended using as a live-trap and was then quickly
driven away. as children and their parents looked on.
(Ellsworth Dickson photo)

such as a sow up a tree with
two cubs.” -

“We feel we have got to
‘remove that population
somehow: In no way is it
going to decrease. by hun-
’ titig.”

That is the policy, that
keeps conservation officer’
Adolf in the middle, leaving |
him to deal with a public that:
is-split between the terror of
having a bear on _ their
doorsteps and the horror of

' seeing a wild animal shot..

“This is a decision our
man in the field is going to
have to make when he sees
this situation,” says Wilson.
“We have to put trust in him
that he should do the. ,best -
under the circumstances.”

Meanwhile, Adolf says
one of his greatest obstacles
‘is an uneducated public
which lives on the
perimeters of a mountain
wilderness and leaves out
garbage in plastic bags for
days before collection day:

| This was the case in
‘Monday’s incident, where
there were bags of garbage
piled near the opening in the
fence where the bear was .
shot.

Adolf. hopes that such
cases will at least prompt
people in such areas to keep
their garbage in the
basement until the day of
collection.

It made the householder
on Hendecourt think about
the problem - but not enough
to take her garbage off the’
street. Instead,-she. sprayed -
it with an aerosol.

Ronald D. DeCamillis, B.sc., D.M.D.

Announces the Commencement of his
Practice
in General Dentistry with
The North Vancouver Dental Group
124 East 15th Street
North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 2P9

Office Hours (Including Saturdays) Telephone
By Appointment By Appointment 987-5221

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show sells

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PAGE C-6

Buying the
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PAGE B-22

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