At least three beavers have been killed in traps set by Yukon government conservation officers in the Squatters Row area of Whitehorse, says area resident Gary Bemish.

Last week, the officers laid down one live-trap and two kill-traps in a creek flowing from McLean Lake. Dams the beavers had built were causing water levels to rise, which threatened to flood nearby homes.

Conservation officer David Bakica, one of the officers responsible for laying the traps, said the one live-trap was placed in an area that was easy to reach but kill-traps had to be used in harder-to-reach areas.

Bakica also said kill-traps had been used because the officers 'didn't have the time' to monitor the live-traps due to the demands being placed on their time in the busy summer season.

Bemish said today he is not happy the animals had been killed because he believes destroying animals isn't what conservation officers should be doing.

'I would think the bottom line would be that conservation officers should work with the animals and try to keep them alive,' said Bemis.

'If this is an example of how they (conservation officers) handle things, I have little confidence in the way they are able to handle problems.'

He said he found claims by the officers that they didn't have time to monitor live beaver traps weak, as they had been out to the Squatters Row area nearly every day in the last week.

He said he is still upset the officers had stopped his attempts to live-trap the animals.

Last week, Bemish received a notice from Bakica telling him not to try to live-trap the beavers or he would be charged.

The notice posted on his door last Thursday read: 'You do not have a permit to trap! I will issue you a permit to pull the dams the next time I see you but if you persist in trapping you will be charged.'

Dennis Senger, the Department of Environment's spokesperson, said today while there was 'nothing to indicate that we have a beaver population problem' around Whitehorse, the killing of the beavers is in line with government conservation policy.

He said the officers had consulted the 'manual' before making their decision and killing the animals was the most humane action that could be taken in the situation.

'In there, it (the manual) says relocation is only available in late spring or early summer,' Senger said.

If the beavers were to be released into a new environment this late in the year, he said, they would not have had the time to prepare for winter and would likely have died.

'If we were to live-trap and release those animals now, it would have been considered inhumane.

'Do you put them out there and let them suffer in the wild or do you dispense of them in a humane way?' Senger asked rhetorically.