Garbage-addicted rare white bear will not be put down

A rare white-furred bear that has wandered back to a small town in southeastern B.C. to feastthe community'sgarbage will not be euthanized, conservation officers say.

"We are looking at alternate solutions here ... perhaps a sanctuary placement or relocation," said Sgt. Joe Caravetta,who says a trap has been set for the cub.

"I'd say one of the options is going to happen for sure."

The bear is one of two white bear cubsa pair of sistersthat began lingering around the town of Elkford, B.C. in the fall of 2011.

Theygot into the habit ofpicking throughgarbage for food and by 2012 the white-furred bears, which are actually the same species as regular black bears,were habituated topeopleand hadoutstayedtheir welcome.

But because of therare colour of their fur, conservation officers made an exception. Rather than shoot the bears, the B.C.ConservationOfficer Servicetrapped and relocated them about 100 kilometres to the north,toa wilderarea in Alberta's Kananaskis Country.

Now, one of the two white-furred bears haswandered back into town, and fallen back into its old ways.

DuncanMcDonald, Elkford's public works director, said town residents have likely become a little careless in storing their garbage since the bears were moved.

"Because we haven't had any bears yet this year, people have probably forgotten to keep their cans in garages or sheds to make it tougher for her to get at them," he said.

"We've put out reminders to get people to please put their cans away, and then for people who have no other recourse if they don't have a garage or a shed we have purchased a few bear-resistant bear cans which we're trying to disperse out to those people who really need them where the bear's coming back repetitively."

The second white blackbear cub removed last year from Elkford has not yet been spotted around town.

"We had a report that one of them had been seen in the Kananaskis area of Alberta [but] we never did get confirmation," Caravetta said.

The white fur of the black bear cub is linked to a recessive gene and isnot to be mistaken for B.C.'s Kermode bear, also known as the "spirit bear," which are associated with coastal areas like Terrace and Prince Rupert.