Two convicted, fined $3K each after grizzly bear killed on BC’s Texada Island
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Two residents of Texada Island have been convicted after failing to report the killing of a grizzly bear in July 2025, according to conservation officials.
BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) said in a social media post Thursday that Cody Bevan and Seneca Antony have been fined $3,000.
he was Was accused after last september murder of a grizzly bear last July, which followed weeks of controversy Because the inhabitants of Texada Island were divided by bears.
Residents were at odds over whether the bear, which had already been relocated twice, should be killed or left alone.
BC conservation officers say a grizzly bear that had caused problems in the past and was relocated several times has been shot after being spotted on B.C.’s largest Gulf island. The five-year-old male appeared on Texada Island, about 100 kilometers north of Vancouver near Powell River, in late May. CBC’s Maryse Zeidler has more
CBC News later learned that local First Nations had made a plan to relocate stray bears, and the province was working to make it successful when the bear was shot and killed.
Bevan and Antony were sentenced in the case on Thursday after pleading guilty to failing to promptly report the injury or killing of a grizzly bear, according to COS.
Conservation officials said $4,000 of the fine will be donated to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. The charges in the case do not indicate who actually killed the bear.
the current23:05How a grizzly on a BC island put a community in crisis
It had been a century since a grizzly bear had been seen on Texada Island. So when a man swims 5 kilometers from the mainland and arrives in a community off the BC coast, it creates curiosity, bewilderment and division over how to live with a giant predator – a giant predator they named Tex. Molly Segal brings the story of that island community and the bears in her documentary, A Bear Called Takes.
The bear caused controversy
Residents of Texada Island – B.C.’s largest Gulf island, about 100 kilometers northwest of Vancouver and home to about 1,000 people – were not used to large predators living there.
Locals had nicknamed the grizzly “Tex” and officials had previously said the bear had been relocated twice before, after he was found roaming near schools and downtown areas of Gibson and Sechelt.
After being moved to Vancouver Bay – part of Jervis Inlet, about 50 kilometers north of Sechelt – the grizzly was returned to the Sunshine Coast.
It was then moved even further north, to the far end of Jervis Inlet, before settling on Texada Island.
Before the bear was killed, the province released a list of the bear’s past problematic behavior from the previous year, including:
- On May 22, two residents were chased while walking on a trail in Powell River. The residents fled into the water, while the bear roamed the shore for half an hour, tearing one of his jackets;
- chasing a resident walking with her horse and dog on Texada Island for half a kilometer on May 28;
- The animals were reportedly chased to Texada Island on 10 and 11 June.
Its death caused grief among local First Nations, especially after plans to relocate it came to light.
Officials told CBC News that social media and misinformation have fueled the situation around the bear.
According to officials, it was to be moved to a remote location where it could live with other coastal grizzlies and not be able to swim back.
