The B.C. Conservation Officer Service has rescued one black bear cub and is keeping an eye out for two more after their mother was killed by a bowhunter in the Hart this week.
The sow's body was found Wednesday off Aintree Drive near the Inverness Mobile Home Park.
Conservation officers found the three cubs up a tree in the vicinity on Thursday and were able to tranquilize one but the other two were too far up for a safe shot so they were left alone.
"I've got a couple of residents there who are going to keep an eye out and if they see them and if they are able to, are going to grab them and toss them in a kennel because they're pretty small," conservation officer Eamon McArthur said Friday afternoon.
Killing a sow bear with cubs is a violation of the Wildlife Act, as is failing to retrieve a kill. Bowhunting within city limits is legal although the consequences can be stiff if someone is hit by an errant arrow.
Although a warning or a fine is still possible, hunters who kill a sow is asked to report the incident to the Conservation Officer Service so the cubs can be rescued.
"This is relatively close to town and we've managed to locate one of the cubs but if this was out in the bush and they just dropped and left it, well those cubs would starve to death, likely," McArthur said.
Anyone who has information on who is responsible for the death is asked to call the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
