Canadian Conservation Officer Refuses To Kill Bears, Gets Suspended Without Pay

A conservation officer in British Columbia has been suspended for refusing to kill two orphaned bear cubs whose mother had been euthanized.

However, the wildlife center manager, who is now caring for the cubs, says the officer did the right thing, CBC Radio reported. After the conservation service was called, the mother bear was shot and killed when she was caught raiding a freezer full of meat and salmon in someone's home. Later on, her cubs returned to the property, climbed a tree and called out for their mother, not knowing she was already dead.

Despite an order to kill the bear cubs from his superiors, Officer Bryce Casavant tranquilized the bear cubs and transported them to a veterinarian. The bears were then taken to a recovery center operated by by the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association in Errington, according to the Independent.

Robin Campbell, the recovery centre's manager, said the conservation officer did the right thing, as the cubs are not habituated to humans and can be reintroduced to the wild.

"They weren't part of the crime," he says. "They were off in the distance."

B.C. Conservation Officer Service Insp. Chris Doyle says he won't comment on why the officer was suspended for "privacy reasons," according to Inquisitr.

In response to this event, a petition on Change.org has been started by Casavant's supporters to reinstate him. The petition so far has over 104,000 supporters since the petition started on July 7.

Many supporters also went to Twitter to comment on his punishment:

Campbell noted that the bears were being watched by staff at the center, who would assess their current state and determine if the bear cubs should be relocated and released into the wild.

Tags

British Columbia, Conservation, Euthanasia, Bears