The Bear Facts on Fall
Monday, October 1, 2012 @ 3:54 AM
Black bear crosses North Nechako Road in mid September. – photo-250 NEWS
Prince George, B.C. – The provincial government is hoping conflicts between bears and humans can be avoided as bears go through their annual ritual of preparing for hibernation this fall.
At this time of year, bears are actively seeking out food to build up fat reserves, creating potential for trouble when they get access to non-natural food sources. For example, exposed pet food, ripe fruit, improperly stored garbage, dirty barbecues and easily accessible composts all can create problems. Bears that find such food sources will keep coming back, and that often leads to conflict with humans.
Northern Bear Awareness Society reports that in the week of September 16 to 23rd in Prince George, there were 73 bear sightings reported.
Once a bear is conditioned to non-natural food sources, it is extremely difficult to solve the problem without euthanizing the bear. Despite the best efforts of conservation officers, relocation and other non-lethal solutions are rarely successful.
According to the Northern Bear Awareness Society, on average, there will be 800 complaints about bears in Prince George each year, and tragically, on average, 32 black bears and 2 grizzlies will be destroyed.
The only effective, long-term solution is to prevent conflicts between bears and humans from occurring in the first place.
New for the 2012 bear season, is a brand-new mapping system on the provincial Bear Aware website that gives a reasonable approximation of where human-wildlife interactions are occurring throughout the province. click here to access the Prince George map which, while not as current as the new Bear Aware provincial site, does give you a very good idea on where and when bears are being spotted in this city.
This year the B.C. government has contributed $225,000 to Bear Aware. Bear Aware is part of the Ministry of Environment’s Bear Smart Community Program, a voluntary, preventative bear conservation program that encourages communities to address the root causes of bear-human conflicts, thereby earning “Bear Smart” status.
Here are some links to follow:
· Information on the Bear Smart Communities program: www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/bearsmart/bearsmintro.html
· Bear Aware education program: www.bearaware.bc.ca
· Report human-wildlife conflicts to the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) line toll-free at 1 877 952-7277 (RAPP), or visit the RAPP website at: www.rapp.bc.ca
Comments
The one we saw yesterday afternoon was permanently hibernating on the side of hwy 16.
The bear in the picture above has been in that area for about a month. We have seen him numerous times. He just seems to stand there on the shoulder of the road as you drive by him. I pity any poor walkers who happen upon him unexpected.
What a beautiful, healthy-looking bear. Let’s hope he makes it through fall to sleep through winter.
I saw a mother bear up in my neighbour’s apple tree a couple of weeks back shaking the tree like mad so that the two cubs at the base of the tree could eat the falling apples.
We saw one hibernating in the right lane on #97 last week.
there needs tob e balance in the conservation of our wildlife. That dosent appear to be the case in the bear population. And yes we need to clean up our garbage but it appears we are over run with the bear population.
Cheers
He spoke; Retired 02: Those are funny comments. Bears that hibernate are in a hole in the ground. You don’t see them. Perhaps you meant dead. Hibernating bears are alive.
The addresses of people who don’t clean up their fruit trees should be reported to Bear Aware. It could be your kids, wife or pets that somehow get in a bear’s way and result in a conflict.
Retired 02, I don’t believe the bear population is out-of-hand at all. It’s a fact of living in Canada that in the fall you must be more careful of these creatures. Simple as that.
Give more, I have told Bear Aware twice about a neighbor of mine who left all their apples in a pile under the tree. I received an email says thanks for letting us know but nothing with ever done. What we need is the City by-law officers giving out warnings and possibly tickets to those people who leave out garbage and fruit on trees in the fall.
“mother bear”
I wish that people would stop anthropomorphizing animals. The correct term is “Sow” while the male is a “Boar”
Not politically correct I suppose, and the term “sow” does not engender tender feelings of empathy for the delicate forest creature.
metalman.
The only sure cure to reduce human/bear conflict is to shoot the damn bear and make a really nice rug.
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