Charges have been laid against a rancher from Dunster, just east of McBride, after he allegedly killed four grizzly bears.
Arlan Harry Baer is facing six charges under the wildlife act, hunting without a license, killing wildlife out of season and resisting or obstructing an officer from exercising their duty.
“The office received a complaint of an individual who had killed a number of grizzly bears in the Dunster area, says Sergeant Rory Smith of the BC Conservation Officer Service. “Conservation Officers Service investigated and as a result a report was forwarded to Crown Counsel and a number of charges were then laid.”
Charges were approved in May.
Smith says the complaint came in the fall of 2014 but gathering evidence in cases like these can be tricky.
“We do our best to try and get things done in a timely manner but sometimes you simply don’t have the evidence to proceed as you’d like to. Sometimes it takes time or other information will come to our attention the next season or even later.”
Smith says the complaint alleged a sow and three cubs were killed but they were not able to confirm the sex of the bears. He says the incident could have an impact on the grizzly hunt quota for the region.
Baer could face a variety of penalties if convicted.
“Basically, under the Wildlife Act, there’s a number of tools that are at our disposal. We have fines, we have prohibitions like creative sentencing, prohibitions as far as hunting, holding licenses, carrying firearms and so forth.”
Baer will make his next court appearance on October 7.
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