There’s a warning issued on the local news for audience and readers following this story. The images are disturbing.
Conservation officers are looking for who may be responsible for dumping a mutilated bear in Capilano River Regional Park on the North Shore near Vancouver.
The carcass was found at the edge of a parking lot in Camp Capilano by a kids’ camp.
Conservation officer Ashley Page says it’s not known whether the bear died from natural causes or was killed by a human.
What we do know is that the claws were removed and the skull was removed.”
There was also a large gash down the bear’s abdomen, but because of the state of decomposition, Page said she didn’t know if it was made by a human with a tool or done by an animal scavenging on the carcass of the young male which had been dead for as long as a week.
It’s also unknown if any organs were removed. That could be important to know. If organs were removed, it could be the work of poachers wanting to get gall bladders from bear and other parts like their paws for traditional medicine.
The paw and the skull could also be considered trophies for hunters.
Bear hunting season in B.C. runs from April 1 to June 15, though hunting is not allowed on the North Shore. It’s possible that the bear was killed somewhere where hunting is allowed and then dumped here after its parts were harvested, Page said.
h/t: North Shore News
