Officials and sheep farmers in Metchosin say a lone smart black bear is killing sheep.
The bear is believed to have killed at least 16 sheep in the past two weeks and more in the past year.
Mayor John Ranns says is a rare act and also rare that the conservation office has not been able to catch the bear. “We have co-existed with bears forever but the business of killing sheep is new around here.”
The bear seems to be doing all of its work away from people and under cover of darkness.
The Scott Norris with the conservation office says it’s pretty clear that the bear is a smart one. “It’s still showing signs of being a very wild bear because of that but obviously we have not been able to trap it so it’s outwitting us."
Norris says it’s unknown what will happen to the bear once it is trapped but displacing and destroying are both options.
The loss of the sheep is estimated in the thousands and has also been hard on the farmers.