Updated: Bear killed, cubs relocated following Coast Meridian collision

A black bear was killed Tuesday following a Coast Meridian Road crash, Conservation Officer Service recently confirmed.

“Sadly, there was a sow that was hit by a vehicle yesterday,” Conservation Officer Cole Ryley stated in an email to the Dispatch.

Following the crash, RCMP secured the scene at Coast Meridian near Coquitlam Avenue while conservation officers arrived and “chemically immobilized” the mother bear and two cubs.

After consulting with a wildlife veterinarian about the extent of her injuries, conservation officers decided to euthanize the mother bear off-site, Ryley wrote.

“She had sustained a high degree of trauma to the back end,” he wrote.

No charges for driver

The driver who hit the bear will not face criminal charges, Coquitlam RCMP confirmed.

The driver was on scene when police arrived, according to Coquitlam RCMP media relations officer, Cpl. Alexa Hodgins.

“There are no criminal charges being pursued and the file has been concluded,” Hodgins wrote to the Dispatch.

Driver ‘didn’t even slow down’

Writing on social media, witness Cindi Barnes said she was in a car heading southbound on Coast Meridian when she spotted a cub running across the road.

“My sister (who was driving) stopped and went into the middle of the lanes and honked and put her hazards on to let the cub pass,” she wrote.

After a second cub and the sow emerged, a vehicle Barnes described as a “blue/grey minivan” came from the other direction at about 11:15 a.m.

The driver “didn’t even slow down just laid on their horn and smoked the mom bear,” Barnes wrote.

The mother bear was in the bush with her cubs cuddling her, according to Barnes. The bear was alive but unable to move.

The cubs, estimated to be nine or 10 months old, were sent to a wildlife rehabilitation centre. They will likely be released in the spring of 2024, according to Ryley.