The Conservation Officer Service (COS) has confirmed that the grizzly bear roaming Texada Island, which was allegedly shot by a citizen in the Van Anda area, has been found dead.
"The COS can confirm it is the tagged grizzly bear seen on Texada Island in recent weeks, and that it was shot," reads a social media post on Tuesday (July 15). "The bear will undergo a necropsy."
The young grizzly, nicknamed "Tex" by locals who worried about the bear's safety and were calling for it to be translocated, was spotted on Texada Island more than a month ago after swimming over from the Powell River area.
READ MORE: North Island First Nation offers a home to wayward grizzly bear roaming Texada Island
Randene Neill, the minister of water, land and resource stewardship, said the grizzly bear's death comes as work was underway with First Nations on a plan to attempt to capture and translocate the grizzly bear to a remote area up the coast.
"This isn’t how we wanted this to end," Neill said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
The government and First Nations partners were working to pinpoint the bear's precise location and movements so they could set a trap, she said. However, before they could do that, they received reports about the bear's death.
“Once the necropsy is complete, we will work with the Tla’amin First Nation and shíshálh Nation to ensure the bear’s remains are returned to them for ceremonial purposes," Neill said.
Since Tex was spotted on the small island of about 1,200 people, the young grizzly bear has garnered a strong social media following with the "Save Tex - The Texada Island Grizzly Bear" Facebook page. A post by Texada resident Ryan Michael on Facebook Tuesday criticized how the government handled the situation.
"He paid the ultimate price for human failure. His death was entirely preventable – yet B.C. leadership chose silence over action," Michael wrote.
In a video statement on Tuesday afternoon, COS Inspector Simon Gravel confirmed the grizzly bear was shot and killed.
"We do understand that this can generate a lot of interest and emotions from the public," Gravel said. "As soon as the investigation is completed, we'll be happy to share more information."
The Mirror has contacted the First Nations, and is awaiting a response.
If anyone has information about the grizzly bear's killing, they are encouraged to report it to the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.
