Mamalilikulla First Nation has offered to have the Texada Island grizzly bear translocated to its traditional territory, but the province wants the bear to remain on Texada.
Mamalilikulla chief John Powell said he has agreed that the bear could be moved to the Hoeya Sound area in Knight Inlet.
“I’m not the one who would be translocating the bear to our territory,” said Powell. “I understand there are people on Texada who are willing to pay for the translocation of the bear.”
Powell said there is a female grizzly about the same age as the Texada bear living in the proposed area. He said there was a mother with two cubs about four years ago. Last year, she drove off the male cub, and this year, she drove off the female cub, which is about four years old as well, so it’s the same age as the bear in question on Texada, he added.
Powell said the planned drop-off point is in Lull Bay, which is about an hour and a half away by boat ride from the Port McNeill area.
“It’s within an Indigenous and conserved area that we declared in 2020, so the area is protected,” said Powell. “We have been doing work to restore the river systems there so the bears can survive well. It’s an area where the land, the sea and the sky are protected under our ancient law. Under that law, we’re responsible to protect, nourish and conserve all the animals in the land, all animals in the sky and all animals in the waters.
“That’s exactly what we’re doing when we’re accepting this bear. We consider them our brothers and sisters. It’s akin to finding your brother or sister on Hastings Street in Vancouver. You would do everything in your power to try to help them. That’s what we are doing with this bear.”
Powell said the difficulty is that there are provincial regulations that govern whether the bear will be translocated. Powell said he’s had conversations with Randene Neill, minister of water, land and resource stewardship, and Tamara Davidson, the minister of environment, who expressed their stance that they want to leave the bear on Texada.
“They say there is enough land there for the bear to flourish and that it will have enough food,” said Powell. “They were planning to leave it until it leaves the island on its own, either when it needs to hibernate or when it wants to mate next season. The problem is that it's nearly a year if it doesn’t leave until next spring, and it’s unlikely that it’s not going to have interaction with a human being. Hopefully, if it does have interaction with a human being, the interaction is not a negative one, because that will get the bear shot.
“You wouldn’t shoot your brother down on Hastings Street because he stayed there and did something bad. That’s exactly how we feel about this bear.”
Powell said moving the bear would be a valuable addition to the Mamalilikulla territory. He said if the bear is translocated, it might move somewhere else, but the bear needs to be given a chance.
“My offer is open. I did listen to what Randene and Tamara said, and they are following the rules they need to follow, but I’m not sure those regulations are things that the bear is aware of,” said Powell. “It’s going to follow its nose, and if it finds something that smells good, and if it happens to be livestock, that bear could get shot for doing what it naturally does.”
Mamalilikulla’s territory is around Port McNeill, up Knight Inlet and through the Broughton Archipelago. The First Nation’s office is in Campbell River, but the main village is on Village Island in the Broughton Archipelago. The actual name of the village is ‘Mimkwa̱mlis, and the name means village with rocks and island out front.
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