Bear cub and mother put down in Nelson
Published 4:32 pm Friday, August 14, 2026
After several weeks of monitoring a grizzly sow and three yearling cubs, the B.C. Conservation Service (BCCOS) was forced to euthanize the grizzly sow in the interest of public safety.
Two yearlings associated with the sow were captured and released at an undisclosed location where they can continue to be monitored, the BCCOS said in a statement.
The grizzly, along with her three yearlings, were recently spotted along Highway 6 between Nelson and Ymir.
One yearling, which had a a deformity or injury to the leg, was also put down by the BCCOS on August 12.
“Over the past several weeks, the BC Conservation Officer Service and the BC Wildlife Branch received multiple reports of grizzly bears frequenting the Nelson area,” said BCCOS’s social media statement.
“The BCCOS and the BC Wildlife Branch have monitored this sow and her offspring for several years and has worked proactively with the community to reduce human-wildlife conflicts through attractant management,” the statement said.
Back in 2023, the mother and her previous set of cubs were relocated to reduce public safety risks, according to the BCCOS.
In a statement on July 24, the BCCOS said there were no current concerns for the bear family’s well-being and that the yearling’s injury was already a year old.
However, more recently “the sow was exhibiting food-conditioned behaviour and a significant loss of fear of people, including repeatedly accessing residential properties and non-natural food sources such as fruit trees and barbecues, and regularly remaining in close proximity to people.
“Given the bear’s extensive food-conditioning and increasing comfort in residential areas, a second relocation was not considered a viable management option by the BC Wildlife Branch. An injured bear associated with this group was also dispatched under the recommendation of the BC Wildlife Vet.”
The BCCOS said that these wildlife response decisions were made in consultation with wildlife biologists from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.
“We recognize this news will be upsetting for many people,” the statement added. “The dispatching of any bear is an outcome that conservation officers, wildlife biologists, community partners, and residents work hard to prevent, and these decisions are never made lightly.”
Indeed, many people in the area were shocked and upset to hear the news of the euthanization of the yearling.
The incident has received backlash on social media and initiated a rally, which took place on Victoria and Stanley Street, on Aug. 13, to protest the decision to euthanize the bears.
Protestors held signs that read “we can co-exist,” “shame on Nelson” and “stop the killing of bears.”
Katie Graves, founder of the non-profit Ursa Project Society, a bear advocacy group, held the rally. Her non-profit organization promotes the co-existence between humans and bears.
Graves says she saw a lot of different emotions at the protest.
“There was a range of emotions from people who were feeling absolute sadness, despair, to anger and innovative ideas. People saying, ‘what can we do? How can we fix this?’” Graves said.
“This protest showed the amount of people who feel the same way and share in this absolute disdain for how things have been handled,” she said.
The City of Nelson also wants to remind residents to do their part with cohabitating with wildlife. These actions include picking fruit from one’s property, and securing garbage and removing attractants to reduce bears entering residential areas.
“The City has been helping our community by installing bear-resistant garbage bins, removing fruit trees from City-owned land, delivering public education programs and providing tools such as the FoodCycler to help reduce food waste and wildlife attractants,” the statement from the City of Nelson reads.
Graves says more needs to be done and each incident should be taken into account individually and by a case-by-case module.
“What the BCCOS is not considering, is the public outcry from them killing them, which is far greater than what they are seeing in their report calls.”
Graves wants more transparency within the BCCOS and their reasons for euthanizing the bear. This is something she sees as the only solution.
“We need transparency within the conservation. They work for us and we pay their salaries,” she said.