Kamloops couple ask others to be bear aware after learning captured mother and cubs to be put down

A Kamloops couple took to Facebook to express their sadness after finding out that a family of bears caught in their backyard would be put down.

Todd and Roxanne Angell moved to the Kamloopsneighbourhood of Juniper Ridge, so they could be closerto nature and see wildlife in their backyard.

"It's just kind of the norm for us and one of the attractions to the area that we've enjoyed," said Todd Angell.

They regularly see bears near their home and they hadbeen watching a mother and her two cubs who hadbeen hanging out in the area.

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Last week, they say that complaints from a neighbour led to traps being put out for the bearsand Monday morning, the traps caught the cubs.

"Up until this morning, I was under the naive understanding that they would trap them and relocate them ... but then today, I found that wasn't the case," said Roxanne Angell.

Sgt. Kevin Van Damme with the B.C. Conservation Office Service said they have been managing those bears for two years. Unfortunately, the bears had been getting into garbage throughout the community.

"They pose a public safety risk, and, unfortunately, the behaviour and the learning that they've had over the last two years ... would cause those cubs next spring to increase their aggressiveness with their attempt to get garbage," he said.

"More people need to understand the consequences of their actions," said Roxanee Angell.

"They are a nuisance because we made them a nuisance."

Now, she and her husband would like people to follow the bear aware protocols like waiting until the morning to put out their garbage and picking fruit off fruit trees and bushes.

"We're invading their space, and it bothers me that we can't educate our children and ourselves and our neigbours to co-exist with these animals," said Todd Angell.