Conflicts between dogs and bears are on the rise in the Alberni Valley.
Local Conservation Officer Dan Eichstadter says with bears recently coming out of hibernation, they’re looking for fawns at this time of year, and believes the bears are confusing dogs with deer.
“Deer fawns are starting, so bears have that need for protein,” he said. “They see a lighter coloured dog, they may think it might be a deer fawn, and if it runs, they may give chase.”
Eichstadter say Conservation Officers shot a bear in Cherry Creek on the weekend after it attacked a pair of dogs, killing one.
