Plans to tranquillize a mother bear and her three cubs on McArthur Island were halted Tuesday when the bears couldn't be found, but other bears are moving into the city quickly because of the hot dry weather.

"It's definitely very, very busy with bears right now," said acting conservation inspector Darcy MacPhee.

Tuesday a lone adult bear in Juniper chased some people. Conservation officers attended the scene but the bear wasn't found.

MacPhee said conservation has received a number of complaints from the Anglemont/Scotch Creek area, and that there were other sightings in and around Kamloops Tuesday.

"We have a lot of bear activity all over Kamloops (Tuesday) and out toward the Shuswap," he said.

The hot dry spell we've had is pretty tough on berry crops, he said, "so it just forces the bears to go looking for that really good food source, and typically that's in areas that are getting watered or along the river, which of course puts them in conflict with people."

The bear complaints Tuesday revolved around fruit tree and garbage issues, and wild berries in the city, MacPhee said.

The mother bear with three cubs that was in McArthur Island Park Monday was not seen Tuesday, but MacPhee said, "My guess is that they probably will return to that site because of the food source."

"With family units — sows with cubs — we try very hard to relocate."

The three cubs who lost their mother Friday to a highway accident near Sun Rivers haven't been seen either.

"We're waiting for that fresh report of where the three little guys have gotten to," said MacPhee.

"In the case of the orphan cubs, we quite often will ship them to one of the rehab facilities in the province. It doesn't always end happily, but we'll try our very best to do that."

If bears are seen, contact conservation's reporting line at 1-877-952-7277.