By The Canadian Press

Government, First Nations had been preparing to move problem bear, B.C. minister says

Jul 16, 2025 | 12:30 PM

A suitable bear trap had arrived on British Columbia’s Texada Island on Tuesday, meant to hold a grizzly that had caused a ruckus among the island’s residents.

It came too late, B.C.’s minister of water, land and resource stewardship said on Wednesday.

Tex, as the bear became known, was found dead by conservation officers, Randene Neill said.

“Unfortunately, we learned that same morning that someone had shot the bear,” said Neill, “It was horribly sad.”

Neill said they had been working on a plan for a month with three coastal First Nations to relocate the four-year-old grizzly bear.

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Neill said Tla’amin First Nation in Powell River reached out to her, asking if they could make a plan for the bear alongside the Shishalh and Homalco nations.

Tex is no stranger to controversy, conservation officers have already moved him out of communities along B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, Neill said. He made his own way to Texada Island, off the waters of the Sunshine Coast.

Conservation officers said in June that the grizzly was not a candidate for relocation again after he harassed wildlife and stalked people.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said it received a report from the RCMP on Tuesday that someone had shot and wounded the bear, and it later reported finding the bear dead.

The Tla’amin First Nation said in a statement Wednesday that it is “deeply saddened” by the shooting death of a grizzly.

The nation’s statement said conservation officials had already approved their relocation plan for Tex before he was “illegally shot, maimed and killed.”

It had planned to move the bear to the head of Bute Inlet, on the mainland about 100 kilometres northeast of Texada Island.

The nation held a ceremony on Tuesday to honour the spirit of Tex after taking custody of his remains.

John Powell, elected chief of ­Mamalilikulla First Nation, said he too reached out to the province in late June to see if the bear could be relocated, and hearing the bear was shot dead left him “devastated.”

Powell said Tex had likely been driven out of his territory by a bigger bear and wasn’t “doing anything outside of its nature.”

He said the person who killed the bear should have faced severe consequences.

Powell said he doesn’t know the circumstances around the bear’s death, including if someone was defending themselves or others.

“If it was so, I would have thought that whoever shot the bear would have come forward and said it was chasing their dog or whatever,” said Powell.

Powell said he decided to step aside from the relocation effort when he heard other nations were already working on a plan.

He said he’s hopeful the government can look into this tragedy to learn to deal with bear encounters in a more “humane and appropriate manner.”

Neill said moving forward, they will work with communities to educate them on how to coexist with bears and other wildlife.

She said the investigation into the shooting death of the bear is ongoing.

The service said a necropsy will be performed on the animal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2025.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press