A black bear that was spotted in Burnaby, British Columbia’s Central Park chasing geese near a toss-and-drop field has been euthanized, according to conservation officials.
The bear was caught on video chasing what appeared to be a baby Canada goose on Saturday, surrounded by squawking geese and people whose golf was interrupted.
The bear appears to pounce on the goose in the video, shot by Burnaby resident Mandeep Uppal around 3:40 p.m. Saturday.
Uppal says he’s been going to Central Park for years and never thought a bear would show up there. The park is located in the Metrotown area, nowhere near the larger regional parks in Metro Vancouver.
WATCH | A black bear chases geese in Central Park:
A prowling black bear chases geese in a British Columbia park
A video taken by Mandeep Uppal shows a bear on the hunt near a pitch-and-putt field in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia
“I’ve been going to Central Park since I was a kid,” he told CBC News. “I’ve never heard of a bear.
“I’m not even sure how it got there. That was the real headache.”
Uppal said he was out playing the first hole on the course when someone said there might be a bear nearby.
“At that point I thought this guy had gone out to lunch,” he said. “There are no bears in Central Park.”
But then he says park staff told them not to play the first hole because there was a bear nearby.
“People are scratching their heads at this point, and we’re just waiting around,” he said. “There is no one to play the first hole where all the geese have gone on the course.
“A few minutes later they started making a bunch of noise and flew away. And at that point I thought, well, this might be it. Now I’m going to start recording.”
After the unfortunate baby goose met its end in his video, he says the bear bounced off into nearby bushes and trees.
Uppal said it was “really cool” to see a bear up close, but he was surprised at how comfortable it was with people around it.
The British Columbia Conservation Service told CBC News the bear was trapped and put down. They said more details about the incident will be available soon.
Uppal says conservation officers were on the scene when the bear appeared on the course, and one of the park workers told him the bear had been spotted in the park the day before the incident.
The bear sighting caused the pitch-and-putt course to be shut down for two hours on Saturday.
Uppal said he will return this weekend to resume his game and will be on the lookout for any further encounters with ursines.
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