Several bears got some unscheduled shut-eye when they were tranquilized and removed from trees in the Glen Drive area of Coquitlam last week.
Five bears, including a sow and three cubs and an unrelated male bear, had to be tranquilized because they wouldn't leave the trees and had been eating garbage from trash bins left unsecured.
The sow and cubs arrived to the scene first in the evening of July 30 and started going through the garbage in search of food and, when the adult male bear showed up to get a taste of human food the young family climbed one tree, and the male bear climbed another.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Michelle Luca said conservation officers were called to deal with the bears, which were tranquilized and relocated.
However, she said the whole ordeal could have been avoided if people did a better job containing their waste, especially on garbage day.
"We are advising people that it's really important to keep garbage inaccessible to bears," she said, adding that sloppy homeowners could get slapped with a $230 fine.
It's been a busy bear season already in the city, with bears sighted in many locations since spring.
