9 Grizzlies Killed in Pacific Coast Village

Environmentalists raised the alarm about the killing of nine grizzly bears that were driven to forage for food in a Pacific Coast village because there were almost no salmon in the rivers for them to eat. Canada’s stocks of salmon have dwindled due to overfishing, environmental changes and the destruction of the fish’s river breeding grounds. A mother grizzly and her two cubs were shot after they attempted to break into several houses in the British Columbia village of Oweekeno, about 240 miles northwest of Vancouver, in search of food, said Tom Gottselig, fisheries administrator for the Oweekeno First Nation. “They tried to get into three houses and caused quite a panic and whatnot. . . . They’re looking for food. They’re starving up here,” he said. Wildlife officers killed six bears, including two cubs, and removed three other grizzlies from the village last month.