B.C. dairy farmer charged with killing 4 grizzly bears

A B.C. farmer has beencharged with killing four grizzly bears, after allegedly shooting a sow with cubs.

A conservation officer said it's aloss so significant, it may affectthe grizzly population and limit the grizzly hunt in the region.

'A threatened species'

"Grizzly bears are considered a threatened species in this province," saidSgt. RorySmithwith the B.C. Conservation OfficerService fortheOminecaZone, basedin Prince George.

"Yes, it is significant."

The alleged bear kills came to light after officials got apublic complaint in 2014 about theshooting of a grizzly sow with cubs in Dunster, a mountain valley between Prince George, B.C. and Jasper, Alberta.

That complaint led to a lengthy investigation. Charges were laid more than two years after the alleged incident.

Farmer charged with shooting grizzly sow with cubs

Now, Arlan HarryBaer isfacing six charges under the Wildlife Act, includingkilling wildlife out of season, unlawful possession of dead wildlife, failure to report killing wildlife, failure to state location of wildlife killed, and resisting or obstructing an officer from exercisingtheir duty.

Baerruns a family farm, with bothHolstein dairy and beef cows,about 300 km east of Prince George.He's also principal of the McBride Christian Day School, according to a B.C. governmentwebsite.

Baer is scheduled to make his next court appearance in October.

Few details have been released about what happened.

But Smith, the conservation officer, saidthere are provisions in the Wildlife Act for ranchers and farmersto protect livestock. In this case, Smith said, crown counsel decided to approve charges against Baer.

4 dead bears could limit grizzly hunt

Smith said limited entry hunting for grizzly bears in the region may now be imposed.

"If four bears are taken, and you don't know the sex, you have to default and assume they are all females," said Smith.

B.C. grizzly bear expert Lana Ciarniello isn't familiar with thiscase.

Still, she said the prospect of losing four female grizzly bearsis serious.

'We do not want to be losing ...females'

"They are very, very slow reproducing, especially as you get into the interior of the province and off the salmon streams. We do not want to be losing or killing adult females," said Ciarniello.

"Anytime we have a large number of females killed, we would absolutely need to ...reassess hunting quotas," said Ciarniello, noting that would be agovernment call.

Ultimately, she believesthe grizzly population in theDunsterregion is fairly healthy. "I don't think it's going to have too much overall impact to the population."

Ciarniello said conflicts with grizzly bears are "unfortunately common" in agricultural areas.

She said some bear advocatesare working at mitigating conflict between farmers and bears.

Furthermore, she said preventative measures including moving calves closer to farm housesduring calving, building barriers, securely storing grain, and keeping livestock from the edge of forests can help.