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Wildlife

Curious bobcat pokes head into Okanagan home

VERNON - A curious animal believed to be a bobcat stuck its head inside a Vernon home recently. Conservation officer Tanner Beck says a homeowner in the Silver Star Road area left her door open around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 and a bobcat 'poked its head in to see what was going on.’ “It...

Conflicts between humans and bears expected to increase in the Okanagan

WEST KELOWNA – A busy weekend for bear sightings in West Kelowna could signal the start of a fall rife with bear-human conflicts. Frank Ritcey, the creator of the interactive Wildlife Alert Reporting Program on WildsafeBC.com, says four sightings of black bears were reported in the Shannon Lake neighbourhood in West Kelowna since Friday. “This...

Cougar shot near elementary school

LUMBY - A cougar was put down by the Conservation Service Monday morning in Lumby after it attacked livestock. Conservation officers trapped and shot the large, roughly five-year-old, 170 pound male cougar, after it killed a resident’s sheep and alpaca in the Schwartz Road area behind J.W. Inglis Elementary. Conservation officer Ken Owens says the...

How a standoff between a horse, two dogs and cougar ended in Lumby

LUMBY - It was a sight Lumby resident Tina Berg never expected: Her 1,300 pound horse practically nose-to-nose with a cougar. It was around 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 21, when Berg, who lives about three kilometres out of Lumby in a rural area, heard her dogs barking. “It was a bark I just know means...

Bertram Creek Park reopens after cougar sightings

KELOWNA – Officials have reopened the Bertram Creek Regional Park after sightings of a cougar in the area shut it down Wednesday. Regional District spokesperson Bruce Smith says signs about the recent sightings will remain up to warn residents of the ongoing risk. “Those using this and other Regional Parks in a more natural-setting should be...

Close encounter with wildlife at the Shark Club

KAMLOOPS – A woman driving to work got a big surprise when she came around the roundabout at Third Avenue this morning, a deer jumped out in front of her car and then into the Shark Club's front door. Natasha Nel was on her way to work just before 8 a.m. when the deer, using...

Numerous snake scares in the Okanagan

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Snake encounters have shaken up a number of Okanagan residents in the last few days — including one in an apartment building — and a wildlife control expert says in many cases, it has to do with the weather. Pete Wise runs a wildlife control service based in Vernon and says he’s had...

About the recent spike in moose sightings in Kelowna…

KELOWNA – Two separate moose encounters in Kelowna have made the news in the last couple weeks, and several more sightings have been reported to WildSafe B.C. during that time, but is the number of moose sightings this year any different from last? Conservation B.C. spokesperson Barb Leslie says it isn't. According to her, ten...

Watch out for rattlesnakes; they’re out early in the Thompson-Okanagan

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Sunny weather has gotten many of us out from beneath our rocks looking for some rays, and we’re not the only ones in the animal world. Warm temperatures have brought rattlesnakes out earlier than normal in the Thompson-Okanagan, according to WildSafe B.C. spokesperson Frank Ritcey. “With the warm weather, the snakes will be...

HELSTON: Hundreds of bears die every year for this stupid reason

This goes out to anyone who’s left their garbage out and had a bear get into it; you might as well have put a bullet through its head. It sounds harsh, I know, but hundreds of bears across B.C. are killed by conservation officers every year because they’ve grown habituated to garbage. Sorry to break...

Bears are waking up and looking for food in the North Okanagan

VERNON - The Conservation Service is reminding the public to minimize attractants as bears come out of hibernation and start looking for food. Conservation officer Mike Richardson says the number of bear complaints has already started to climb in the North Okanagan. “They’re definitely awake and coming out of their dens,” Richardson says. On Monday,...

Bullets, condoms and refuse – see what’s dumped in our protected grasslands

KAMLOOPS – Watching several trucks drive by Batchelor Heights into the province's protected grasslands and not knowing the driver's purpose for visiting makes Park Ranger Amanda Weber-Roy nervous as she prepares for a day of work in the Lac du Bois Grasslands Saturday. She looks for signs of recreational users — an ATV, a mountain...

Why the City of Kelowna wants your dog on a leash

KELOWNA - The warm weather means more residents and their dogs are out enjoying the outdoors, and in some cases, that's leading to conflicts with wildlife. The City of Kelowna issued a press release Thursday afternoon asking dog walkers to help ensure wildlife can enjoy the nice weather too. Park Services was recently notified of...

Bobcat sightings becoming more common in the North Okanagan

VERNON - North Okanagan residents spotted an increasing number of bobcats in recent years. Conservation officer Mike Richardson says there have already been 16 bobcat reports since April of 2014. That’s not out of line with the last few years—14 last year and 18 the year before. But it’s a lot more than it used...

Hunters to march on Premier’s office

KELOWNA – The president of the Oceola Fish and Game Club isn’t going to Saturday's protest at Premier Christy Clark’s office for himself. He’s doing it for his step-son Colin and others of his generation. “I grew up in the Cariboo and general open season on moose ran from September to November,” Sean Richardson says....

Up close and personal with a bobcat in Kettle Valley

AMAZING PHOTO OF WILD CAT KELOWNA – A close encounter with a bobcat has prompted a warning for people living in the Village of Kettle Valley in Kelowna. A couple of neighbours spotted a bobcat dragging a house cat away Friday afternoon, Jan. 9, according to Kettle Valley president Stephen Wells. “They ran at the...

NEWSMAKERS 2014: North Okanagan cougars clash with humans

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE YEAR. TODAY: NUMBER FIVE VERNON - It may have been the year of the horse according to the Chinese Zodiac, but in Vernon, 2014 was the year of the cougar. Between April and October, the Conservation Service received 186 cougar reports in the...

Man captures incredible photo of picnicking bear in Coldstream

LAST DAY TO ENTER OUR CAPTION CONTEST AND DON'T FORGET TO LIKE YOUR FAVOURITES! VERNON - It was a scene right out of a children's story: A bear nonchalantly snacking on chestnuts at a picnic table. No, it’s not photoshopped. Rick Zoethout, with Cidel Moving and Storage, captured the photo while loading items into a...

HELSTON: Don’t be afraid to call the conservation officer

Residents across the Interior contacted the conservation service over the past year to report wildlife encounters ranging from simple sightings to bizarre and in some cases, tragic extremes. There was a cougar found inside a Vernon home chewing on a squeaky toy, a pack of wolves that killed a woman’s dog in Merritt, aggressive coyotes...

Check out the neat surprise these North Okanagan residents found on their game camera

ENDERBY - Some North Okanagan residents found a warm and fuzzy surprise on their game camera this past summer: two baby bears. The cubs were caught wrestling, attacking the camera and playing around in a clearing. The camera was located about 100 meters from the photographers’ home on a forested property just outside Enderby. The...