A family in B.C.'s Okanagan is criticizing the provincial conservation service because of how officers responded when they reported a family of black bears on their property.

The Borden family called conservation officers on Saturday when a severely underweight mother bear led her two cubs onto their Falkland property.

"She clearly needed some help, as well as the cubs. She should be hibernating at this time of year, and so we figured there was something wrong and she needed attention," Stephen Borden told CTV News.

When an officer arrived, he immediately shot the mother bear and prepared to take aim at the now-orphaned cubs.

"This officer, his only concern was shooting them. That's all he wanted to do. He went on about how he has killed so many bears," Lynn Borden told CTV News.

The cubs managed to scramble away and the officer left.

The next morning, the cubs were back, and this time Lynn Borden called her son and his wife for help.

"She says, ‘You've got to catch these. We've got to get them in the back of the horse trailer before the conservation officer comes back and shoots them himself," daughter-in-law Kathleen Godin said.

The conservation officer did come back, and this time -- under pressure from the family -- he worked with them to corral the cubs and find a way to save them.

"We let him know constantly that we would alert the media. We would do whatever it takes to have those bears saved. At the same time, he kept repeating that the bears will have no chance to live," Stephen Borden said.

They eventually captured the cubs, and the family found a rehabilitation facility in Delta willing to take the young bears.

The officer took more convincing.

"I was on the phone with the conservation officer, explaining to him who we are and what we do, and that we were able to take these cubs, and he didn't quite want to listen to me," Angela Fontana of Critter Care said.

The family ended up taking on the job of transporting the bears.

The conservation service admits that the concern and efforts of the Borden family might have influenced how things turned out.

"These facilities are starting to load up, and it gets to a point where, if it's not conducive to keep these bears in captivity, then they will be destroyed," Sgt. Troy Lockwood said.

Why not relocate the bears?

The Borden family's experience represents the kind of encounter bear specialists and environmental activists say is happening more often -- and relocation often isn't an option.

"Their population is on the increase. We're building into their habitat and they're coming into ours," Drake Stephens of Bear Aware told CTV News.

When they enter human territory, black bears discover a source of food that keeps them coming back -- garbage.

"[Conservation officers] don't just come out and shoot a bear because somebody phoned them. It's usually a bear that's progressed to being quite a nuisance, and nuisance bears aren't born nuisance bears -- they're created by us," Stephens said.

He added that the best way to prevent bear deaths is for humans to change their habits.

"Its not rocket science: Lock up your garbage," he advised.

According to the province, 635 black bears were shot this year by conservation officers, compared to 164 killed by others. One hundred and eight bears have been relocated.

The numbers are all up from 2009, but there have also been worse years on record. In 1998, more than 1,600 black bears were killed.

The Wilderness Committee says that relocating black bears doesn't really work. Bears that are moved can end up causing more problems in a new area, and sometimes they even make their way back to the original neighbourhood.

"Unfortunately, the best thing to do with a repeat offender, problem bear is to kill it," the group's Andy Miller said.

He added that people who attract bears by being irresponsible with their garbage should pay the price.

"I'd like to see stiff fines for people who end up having bear problems, because it's their fault -- it's not the bear's fault."

The committee would also like to see more funding for the conservation service.

"We've seen a 90-per-cent reduction in conservation officers in this province, so there's only so much that they can do," Miller said.

With reports from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat and Maria Weisgarber



