A seven-month old black bear cub narrowly escaped a painful death in Mission at the weekend after being caught in a snare that was set legally on private land.

The trap was possibly set to catch coyotes at a nearby sheep farm but, as with many traps, was indiscriminate in the species that it ensnared, said Lesley Fox, executive director for the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals.

“The snare caused a puncture on the inside of the bear cub’s ankle, but as she tried to escape over the barbed wire fence into the bush, she got tangled and ended up hanging by her foot,” Fox said.

“The trap caused bruising and swelling, she was severely scratched from the barbed wire, and she was very distressed,” explained Angela Fontana, senior animal care supervisor with the Critter Care Wildlife Society, which rescues and rehabilitates between 1,200 and 1,600 wild animals annually.

“When an animal is in pain and fighting for its life, their struggle to escape the trap causes even more injury and suffering,” Fox said. “And, disturbingly, this is by no means an isolated incident.”

A passerby alerted the Ministry of the Environment’s conservation officers on Saturday afternoon, after they heard the bear’s cries of distress. The officer on duty contacted the non-profit Critter Care Wildlife Society for back up.

There was no sign of the cub’s mother or other cubs and it isn’t known exactly how long the cub had been ensnared.

Fontana said the number of animals injured in traps has been rising for seven years and there has been a spike this summer in the number of both wild and domestic animals being injured by traps. A week ago, a pet cat in Penticton was caught in a leghold trap, and dragged the trap home before it was released.

Fontana believes that the increase in trap-injured animals being treated at their facility reflects an increase in the number of people taking wildlife control into their own hands. While it can cost $300 to have a company come onto a property to humanely remove and relocate wildlife, purchasing a trap online typically costs less than $20.

“No warning signs or identification tags are required, and traps can be set 200 metres from any dwelling, including homes and schools,” Fox said.

A new wildlife regulation restricting the size of Conibear traps (designed to grip and kill an animal) within municipal boundaries was passed this spring, to try to reduce accidental snaring of pets and non-targeted species, said Greig Bethel, public affairs officer with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

However, the B.C. SPCA believes the new regulations are insufficient.

“The changes the ministry are referring to offer little protection to wild or companion animals,” says Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with B.C. SPCA.

“The bear cub was caught in a snare, whereas the regulatory changes are only relevant to Conibear traps.”

And although the size of Conibear traps has been reduced, large wild animals, cats and dogs can still be caught and severely injured by them.”

New animal trapping bylaws restricting the use of traps have been drafted by some municipalities including Surrey, Sechelt, Nanaimo and White Rock. The new bylaws seek to prohibit the use of all body-gripping devices, which include snares, Conibear traps and leg-hold traps (both the toothed type that is already banned plus the modified version). However, Fox said, the provincial government has yet to approve these changes.

“It makes no sense that the ministry is dragging its heels. In some cases, they have been sitting on these bylaw approvals for two years, with still no response.”

Bethel said the government will consider input from municipalities in its review of trapping regulations.

“At present there is no way for the province to delegate authority to municipalities with respect to trapping, so a review of the trapping regulations is a necessary first step to resolving it,” he added.

Fontana believes that the bear cub will make a full recovery, but won’t be released until early next summer.

“She is starting to weight bear on all four limbs now, and is responding well to antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications. As soon as she finishes her medications, she can be placed into an enclosure with two other female bear cubs of approximately the same age also being cared for at Critter Care’s facility.”

Fontana estimates that the cost to them of rescuing and rehabilitating the bear cub will be approximately $5,000. Neither the farmer who set the trap nor the provincial government is obligated to contribute to this expense. Critter Care Wildlife Society is funded 100 per cent from public and private donations, and will bear the full cost.

The Critter Care Wildlife Society is accepting donations to help with the cost of rehabilitating the injured bear cub at www.crittercarewildlife.org.

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