Viral video shows bear cubs swimming in West Vancouver pool while others are killed by hunters

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      A trio of bears recently made itself feel at home on the residential property of a West Vancouver family.

      According to CBC News, the Signorellos had received visits from wild animals before, but this was the first time bears had taken a dip in their swimming pool.

      In a video uploaded to YouTube yesterday (September 8), two cubs and one of their parents wrestle for a bit and then play in the grass before one of them goes for a swim.

      "I think he's going to go off the diving board," says a toddler offscreen.

      All kinds of cute.

      That was the second video of bears to go viral in British Columbia today. The first was unfortunately of a less happy nature.

      In a video uploaded to Facebook by the B.C.-based Wildlife Defence League, hunters shoot a wild bear. It's then shown running away and leaving a long and dark trail of blood in its wake. (A warning for people clicking that link: the video is graphic in nature.)

      A video uploaded to Facebook by the B.C.-based Wildlife Defence League depicts hunters shooting a bear and then recording it bleed to death and stumble down a hill.
      Wildlife Defence League

      The date and location of that video are unknown. However, its release on Facebook appears timed to coincide with the beginning of one of B.C.'s two annual grizzly bear hunts. That's October 1.

      As the Straight reported last April, each year the provincial government permits hunters to kill a considerable number of bears for sport.

      But with just three exceptions, the number of grizzlies killed from 1993 to 2012 remained between 200 and 350 per year, at an average annual rate of 262. For black bears, the average number harvested per year in B.C. was 3,965.

      During the 20-year period for which the Ministry of Forests, Land and Natural Resource Operations supplied data, hunters in B.C. killed a total of 5,241 grizzlies and 79,299 black bears.

      In August 2014, the Straight published a cover story about B.C.'s grizzly bear hunts. Today (September 9) that article by Daniel Wood was nominated for a Jack Webster Award for Science, Technology, Health and Environment.

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