Bryce Casavant, a Vancouver Island conservation officer has been suspended without pay, pending a performance investigation for refusing to put down a pair of bear cubs near Port Hardy last weekend.
A B.C. Conservation officer has been suspended without pay after he reportedly refused an order to put down two bear cubs last weekend.
The cubs were orphaned after their mother was killed for breaking into a meat freezer inside a mobile home in Port Hardy on Vancouver Island.
After tranquilizing the cubs, Bryce Casavant brought them to a vet to be checked out and then to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association operated by Robin Campbell.
Campbell says the bears, believed to be around eight weeks old, were at the home only because they were looking for their mother.
An online petition has been launched by the association calling on B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak to reinstate Casavant.
The petition had collected well over 17,000 names by early Wednesday.
Conservation Officer Bryce Casavant has been suspended without pay pending a performance investigation after he refused to put down two bear cubs this weekend.
These baby bears, a brother and sister, were orphaned after their mother had to be destroyed after she had, at least twice, broken into a freezer of salmon and deer meat inside a mobile home on Hardy Bay Road, “through no fault of the owner.”
“Although it is unlikely the mother was in town due to the fire, it is hard to know,” said Casavant.
On July 5, Casavant and members of the Port Hardy Fire Department literally pulled out all stops to rescue the babies who had come back to the property and were up a tree calling for their mother.
“They (firefighters) had their high-angle rescue specialist scale the tree and rappel down on top of the bears to lower them to me. I then tranquilized them by hand,” said Casavant.
The babies were estimated to be about eight weeks and weigh 20 to 25 pounds, are healthy and still nursing.
They did nothing wrong and the order to destroy them came came in even before we had the little things out of the tree. I’m not sure how a decision can be made so quickly based on so little information from so far away. -Justin Reusch Port Hardy Fire Department.
Please sign this petition to show your support to have Bryce Casavant reinstated as conservation officer to the North Island.
Exposing the Big Game 
Compare this to the Texas game warden who was caught poaching, and who has done so numerous times, and yet they allowed him to keep his job. Screwy!
I hope these little babies will do well and will eventually be returned to the wild. This man deserves a commendation, not dismissal.
Definitely SCREWY!
Signed and supported dissemination of petition. Sad that Mr. Casavant and the fire department were willing to try so hard only to have them given a death sentence. I hope the little ones will be saved.. Sad that the mother got killed for being hungry. We’re taking so much of their land that they are desperate to find food wherever they can.
CO Casavant’s pay was reinstated yesterday, but he’s still under suspension.
Great, thanks for the update. What are the grounds for his suspension–failure to be as psycho as most “Conservation” officers?
Casavant is a hero. He absolutely did the right thing.
Here’s the latest on this wonderful man:
The rescued cubs show no apparent signs of habituation and could be released next summer, Campbell added.
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/conservation-officer-who-refused-to-kill-bear-cubs-back-on-payroll-1.2460017
I’m still not convinced that they won’t swoop in and have the little bears killed, because that’s what they do, an’ the law’s the law and the chain of command is the chain of command. I’m hoping for the best though. Did I say this man is a wonderful guy? He decided not to ‘follow orders’.
I feel terrible about the loss of their mother over some #^@%&@ leaving food outside. They refer to her as ‘it’ in the article I posted. Perhaps they should relocate the owner of the freezer? With more and more encroachment into wild areas, this is going to become all to common, I’m afraid.
There is a fund raiser started to help feed the little fellows for 18 months.
Please help the North Island Gazette Bear Cub Fund
The North Island Gazette is raising funds to support the care of the two Port Hardy bear cubs taken to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre in Errington for rehab and recolation.
https://FUNDRAZR.COM