Someone claiming to be Anonymous has leaked an unverified email exchange between B.C. conservation officer Bryce Casavant and his superiors that purportedly shows them arguing about the fate of two bear cubs.
Casavant gained tens of thousands of supporters after news broke that he was suspended for refusing to kill the bears, whose mother was caught eating from the freezer of a Vancouver Island home last weekend.
Some of the emails released to the media Friday morning detail additional concerns the bears had also stolen garbage from the home – something Casavant refutes.
“My assessment at this time based on witness statements, health of cubs, full tits on mother, teeth of cubs, and age is that the cubs have not accessed garbage at this time,” one email reads.
“My duties as a law enforcement officer do not include the needless destruction of a baby animal that can be rehabilitated.”
The other people in the chain remain firm, but offer some sympathies.
“I know how hard these scenarios are Bryce, and I appreciate your good intentions but sometimes this is the outcome we need to take,” one email reads.
“Req’d for public safety and most humane for these bears in the long term.”
CTV News has reached out to the government and Casavant, but neither has commented on the veracity of the emails.
B.C.'s Ministry of Environment did release a statement that the Office of the Chief Information Officer has investigated the alleged leak and found "no evidence that the government's email system was hacked and the system remains secure."
Rather than euthanize the cubs, Casavant brought them to a veterinarian for assessment then transferred them to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association, a rehabilitation facility that regularly takes in bears and releases them back into the wild.
The facility’s founder told CTV News he believes the bears can be rehabilitated and potentially released next year.
Casavant was taken off the job shortly after, pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.
Word of his suspension spread quickly online, inspiring a petition calling for his immediate reinstatement that has already gathered more than 130,000 signatures.
Though the conservation officer remains on suspension, on Wednesday the government reversed its initial decision to take him off the payroll during its investigation.
The B.C. Conservation Service has refused to speak publicly about what it describes as a personnel matter, but held a press conference this week stressing that the decision to destroy wildlife is never taken lightly.
Senior Ministry of Environment staff, biologists and veterinarians determine how to deal with orphan cubs together using a number of assessment tools, according to the service.
The source of Friday’s leak was an account with Hushmail, an encrypted email service that has been used by Anonymous in previous stories.
Click on the image below for the full email exchange:
