{"id":2187011,"date":"2025-06-02T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T05:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2187011"},"modified":"2025-05-31T10:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T09:01:13","slug":"illegal-killing-of-mother-bear-orphans-five-cubs-near-williams-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/illegal-killing-of-mother-bear-orphans-five-cubs-near-williams-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal killing of mother bear orphans five cubs near Williams Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>British Columbia\u2019s Conservation Officer Service says an investigation is underway to find the person who illegally shot and killed a female black bear near Williams Lake, leaving behind five cubs.Conservation officers say the incident took place between May 24 and 25 near the community of Big Lake, northeast of Williams Lake.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/11162346\/\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The agency says it received the report on May 26 after a passing motorist saw a black bear carcass and cubs.<\/p>\n<p>The cubs are in the process of being captured for rehabilitation at Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, B.C.<\/p>\n<p>A statement says two of the five cubs have been safely captured by Northern Lights staff as of Friday at noon.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/10676749\/\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Under the Wildlife Act, it is illegal to shoot a sow with cubs, or any black bear younger than two years old.<\/p>\n<p>Conservation officer Jeremy Pauls says in the statement that this is an unfortunate situation, and it\u2019s not every day that a black bear is seen successfully raising five cubs at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Paul says the conversation officers are investigating and are asking for the public\u2019s help to advance the investigation.<\/p>\n<p><i>This <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11205952\/illegal-killing-of-mother-bear-orphans-five-cubs-near-williams-lake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">article<\/a> by Nono Shen was first published by Global News on 30 May 2025. Lead Image: A black bear stands near the side of Highway 881 near Conklin, Alberta on Tuesday May 10, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jonathan Hayward.<\/i><\/p>\n<h2>Wildlife in catastrophic decline<\/h2>\n<p>The 73% decline in vertebrate wildlife populations during the last 50 years (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish), is primarily driven by human activities that threaten biodiversity.<\/p>\n<p><em>Habitat Loss and Degradation<\/em> &#8211; human activities like deforestation, urbanization, and agriculture have led to the destruction and fragmentation of natural habitats, reducing the space and resources available for wildlife.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pollution<\/em> &#8211; air, water, and soil pollution from industrial activities, agriculture, and other sources can harm wildlife directly or indirectly by affecting their habitats and food sources.<\/p>\n<p><em>Climate Change<\/em> &#8211; changing weather patterns, rising temperatures, and sea levels are disrupting ecosystems and impacting species&#8217; ability to adapt and survive.<\/p>\n<p><em>Overexploitation of Resources<\/em> &#8211; unsustainable hunting, fishing, and logging practices can lead to the depletion of populations and the loss of biodiversity.<\/p>\n<p><em>Invasive Species<\/em> &#8211; the introduction of non-native species can disrupt ecosystems, compete with native species, and threaten their survival.<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/install-popup-button.js\" id=\"donorbox-popup-button-installer\"> <\/script><a id=\"preview_inline_popup_button\" class=\"dbox-donation-button\" style=\"background: #0dc5dc; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; display: flex; gap: 8px; width: fit-content; font-size: 16px; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 24px; padding: 8px 24px;\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/focusing-on-wildlife-needs-your-support?amount=50\" data-reminder-widget-enabled=\"true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" fifu-lazy=\"1\" fifu-data-sizes=\"auto\" fifu-data-srcset=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 75w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 100w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 150w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 240w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 320w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 500w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 640w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 800w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 1024w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 1280w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 1600w\" fifu-data-src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">Donate<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Help to protect wildlife by donating as little as $5. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wildlife-charities-supported-by-focusing-on-wildlife\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">conservation partners<\/a> spend at least 80 percent of the money raised on actual fieldwork rather than administration and fundraising.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 1px solid white;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British Columbia\u2019s Conservation Officer Service says an investigation is underway to find the person who illegally shot and killed a female black bear near Williams Lake, leaving behind five cubs.Conservation officers say the incident took place between May 24 and 25 near the community of Big Lake, northeast of Williams Lake. \ufeff The agency says [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1178,"featured_media":2204378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cpt13040711.jpg?quality=85&strip=all","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6985,5],"tags":[2374],"class_list":["post-2187011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wildlife","tag-black-bear"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2187011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2187011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2187011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2204378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2187011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2187011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2187011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}