Mutilated black bears discovered in B.C.

Two mutilated black bear carcasses have been found in B.C., both believed to be the target of poachers.

Melissa Hafting was returning from bird watching in Pitt Meadows, B.C. on Saturday when she saw one young black bear along Thompson Rd.near Pitt Lake behind the Golden Eagles Golf course that had been mutilated.

"It was really horrific," said Hafting, a 31-year-old nature lover from Richmond."It was just dumped on the side of the road. It was freshly killed."

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Hafting said it appears the 73 kilogram bearhad its paws and internal organs removed, a sign the animal may have been killed by poachers looking to sell its parts.

"I felt really traumatized and really, really sad. It was not given the chance at life," added Hafting who called B.C.'s Conservation Officer Serviceto report the bear.

By Sunday, according to Hafting and Ryan Lipscombe,a local man who also came across the bear,the animal's carcass was still visible but had been moved from its original location to a creekmost likely by scavenging animals.

"It gives hunters a bad name," said Lipscombe who addedhe doesn't agree with the animals being harvested just for certain parts.

"It's good for food if you have the tags, but poaching is not right," he said.

Themutilated bearis the second found in southwestern B.C. in 24 hours.

Another bearwas discovered washed-up on a beach west of Victoria with its paws and internal organs missing.

"It's really a troubling situation and it's something that we really need to face here in British Columbia," said Chris Genovali with Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

The hunting of black bears isallowed in BC within certain periods, but it is illegal in B.C. to trade or sell bear parts, which carry fines of up to $250,000 and six months in jail.