303 bears had to be culled due to human-animal conflicts last year, but that was down from 603 a year earlier
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says the number of black bears that had to be killed because of human-wildlife conflict in 2024 dropped by half from a year earlier.
Conservation officers killed 303 bears across the province last year, down from a record 603 in 2023. It was the lowest number of black bears to be killed since the service began posting statistics online about predator kills in 2011.
“While it is encouraging to see fewer black bear conflicts and black bears dispatched overall, the public continues to have a critical role to play to reduce human-wildlife conflicts,” said B.C. Conservation Officer Service (COS) chief officer Cam Schley in an update posted to social media on Monday.
“Human-wildlife conflict is complex and cannot be solved by the COS alone,” said Schley. “Attractants continue to drive a significant number of bear conflicts across B.C. Residents, businesses and communities all need to do their part to secure attractants — such as garbage, pet food and birdseed — to help keep people safe and wildlife wild.”
The stats were helped in 2024 by an abundance of natural food sources, such as berry crops, which meant black bears were less inclined to come into populated areas in search of nourishment.
The majority of black bears kills were in the Thompson-Okanagan, Kootenays, Cariboo and the North, and more rural parts of Vancouver Island. The highest numbers were in Williams Lake (13), Kamloops (11), and Nelson, Prince George and Quesnel (eight each).
Twenty cubs were taken in for rehabilitation last year after their mothers were put down. That’s a big drop from the 61 cubs taken into care in 2023, but the same number that were rescued in 2022.
Just 10 of the 2024 kills were in Metro Vancouver: Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam (five), Maple Ridge (two), North Vancouver (two) and Lions Bay (one). Eleven others were put down in the Sea to Sky region that includes Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish and Lillooet.
Black bear statistics
Bears killed in B.C. by community
Williams Lake: 13
Kamloops: 11
Nelson: 8
Prince George: 8
Quesnel: 8
Fernie: 7
Penticton: 7
Pink Mountain: 7
Campbell River: 6
Sooke: 6
Vanderhoof: 6
West Kelowna: 6
Enderby: 5
Kelowna: 5
Logan Lake: 5
Port Renfrew: 5
Summerland: 5
Trail: 5
Vernon: 5
Burns Lake: 4
Coldstream: 4
Coquitlam: 4
Daajing Giids: 4
Okanagan Falls: 4
Powell River: 4
Whistler: 4
Windermere: 4
Christina Lake: 3
Clinton: 3
Gibsons: 3
Grand Forks: 3
Lake Country: 3
Pemberton: 3
Revelstoke: 3
Sechelt: 3
Smithers: 3
Bella Coola: 2
Fort St. James: 2
Fort St. John: 2
Fruitvale Hills: 2
Kaslo: 2
Keremeos: 2
Kimberley: 2
Lillooet: 2
Maple Ridge: 2
Nanaimo: 2
Naramata: 2
North Vancouver: 2
Port Alice: 2
Port McNeill: 2
Qualicum Beach: 2
Rossland: 2
Saanich: 2
Salmo: 2
Salmon Arm: 2
Scotch Creek: 2
Sparwood: 2
Squamish: 2
Telkwa: 2
Terrace: 2
100 Mile House: 1
150 Mile House: 1
70 Mile House: 1
Atlin: 1
Bella Bella: 1
Brackendale: 1
Bridge Lake: 1
Castlegar: 1
Chase: 1
Cherryville: 1
Chetwynd: 1
Cobble Hill: 1
Creston: 1
Dawson Creek: 1
Deka Lake: 1
Duncan: 1
Elkford: 1
Errington: 1
Fairmont: 1
Forest Grove: 1
Fort Nelson: 1
Fraser Lake: 1
Goldbridge: 1
Greenwood: 1
Hazelton: 1
Horsefly: 1
Invermere: 1
Jordan River: 1
Kaleden: 1
Kluskus: 1
Lac La Hache: 1
Langford: 1
Likely: 1
Lions Bay: 1
Lytton: 1
Mabel Lake: 1
Mackenzie: 1
Madeira Park: 1
Miller Creek: 1
Mirror Lake: 1
Ness Lake: 1
Olalla: 1
Oliver: 1
Panorama: 1
Peachland: 1
Popkum: 1
Port Clements: 1
Port Coquitlam: 1
Port Hardy: 1
Saltery Bay: 1
Sayward: 1
Shawnigan Lake: 1
Sicamous: 1
Skidegate Landing: 1
South Hazelton: 1
Spallumcheen: 1
Stave Falls: 1
Stewart: 1
Tahsis: 1
Tofino: 1
Topley: 1
Warfield: 1
Wells: 1
Wilmer: 1
Winlaw: 1
Wynndel: 1
Total: 303