One of two rehabilitated black bears released back into the wild has been shot dead after it wandered near children on private land.
The province confirms Charlie, a 16-month-old bruin, was killed Monday.
Charlie had been released in a remote southwestern Alberta location on June 20 and travelled about 120 kilometres to an area where it encountered humans.
No charges will be laid.
Charlie was orphaned in the Crowsnest Pass last summer and taken to the Cochrane Ecological Institute.
Another rescued black bear cub named Maskwa was rehabilitated with him.
The government says it will be going over data collected from Charlie’s radio collar and review its rehabilitation experience to get a better idea of what went wrong.
The government continues to monitor a female bear, which was released along with the male, and has remained in the vicinity of the release point.
More than 40,000 black bears live in Alberta. In a given year, about 10,000 black bear cubs are born.
