government list<\/a> with seven bears put down by COS while the neighbouring town of Tofino had two black bears shot dead. <\/p>\n\u201cUcluelet needs to invest \u2013 and that\u2019s a key word, it\u2019s going to cost some money \u2013 in education, infrastructure and enforcement. This all can\u2019t just fall on the BC Conservation Officer Service. That agency is not resourced well enough to babysit Ucluelet,\u201d said Fox. <\/p>\n
![\"<who>](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/blackybear.png\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cInvesting and protecting wildlife should be a key pillar and a priority for Ucluelet because I think their reputation depends on it,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n
Three of the 13 bears \u201cdispatched\u201d in the Ucluelet area were located at campgrounds out by the Tofino-Ucluelet Junction: one was in the Toquaht Nation community of Macoah and one was killed out at Mussel Beach, said COS Sgt. Daniel Eichstadter in a Nov. 25, 2025 presentation to Ucluelet council.<\/p>\n
Eichstadter said out of the 268 black bear reports BC COS received within the Ucluelet area, 104 related to garbage. <\/p>\n
Bob Hansen, WildSafe\u2019s project lead for carts, says human-bear conflicts in Ucluelet have changed since the implementation of the residential cart system in the fall of 2022. <\/p>\n
He stressed that a \u201cvery high\u201d percentage of the carts are not anchored to the something stable, which leads to the start of the learning path to bears developing break-in skills. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat single human behaviour is a big contributor I believe,\u201d said Hansen during the Nov. 25 presentation to council.<\/p>\n
District of Ucluelet staff and council are working alongside WildSafe and BC COS to transform Ucluelet into a Bear Smart Community. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe District takes this issue very seriously,\u201d said Abby Fortune, Ucluelet\u2019s director of community planning. <\/p>\n
She says they are currently drafting a wildlife attractant bylaw, which they will bring forward to council on Feb. 10. District staff are also in discussions with the developer of First Light, Ucluelet\u2019s newest affordable housing complex on Marine Drive, and the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District to create a pilot project for communal garbage collection. <\/p>\n
\u201cAdditionally, we are exploring options to potentially contract a Wildlife Safety Response Officer to help educate the public as well as safety and environmental law enforcement,\u201d said Fortune in an email statement. <\/p>\n
Yuu\u0142u\u0294i\u0142\u0294at\u1e25 Government (Ucluelet First Nation) said they did not feel comfortable commenting on the issue as most of the black bears killed by COS were located outside of the nation’s Treaty Settlement Lands.<\/p>\n
Fox hopes the community of Ucluelet can turn the situation around.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope everyone can come together. There is reputational risk here. It is a tourist town and killing wildlife is not compatible with the values of Ucluelet. It\u2019s just not. People love the wildlife, they love nature and the forest, and that\u2019s why they go there,\u201d said Fox.<\/p>\n
Across the province, conservation officers \u201cdispatched\u201d 178 black bears and euthanized 33 black bears last year, for a total of 211. BC COS says that is the lowest overall number since the BC COS predator statistics were first published online, in 2011. <\/p>\n
BC COS says \u201cthey have shifted to using updated terminology to better reflect the response taken by officers\u201d. \u2018Dispatch\u2019 refers to a bear killed for public safety reasons, such as a human-wildlife conflict, while \u2018euthanize\u2019 refers to a bear killed for welfare reasons, such as an animal critically injured by a vehicle, says BC COS.<\/p>\n
One bear was also struck and killed by a vehicle along Pacific Rim Highway 4 last summer, in the middle of the day, just north of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations community of Ty-Histanis. <\/p>\n
Anyone that needs help securing bins or replacing carabiners is encouraged to email Chris Read at: [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\nReport all wildlife conflicts to the COS RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.<\/p>\n
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