800 Bear Complaints So Far In P.G.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013 @ 3:59 AM
Prince George, B.C. – Live bear traps are the order of the day in Prince George.Conservation Officers have been setting the live traps in various areas of the City. Bears who go into the traps, will, unfortunately be destroyed. "Our experience has been that these bears have been habituated to garbage and fruit trees, and that is why it is so important that people keep their garbage secured and the fruit picked" says Conservation Officer Gary Van Spangen. "The last thing we want to do is put down any of these bears, but that is the unfortunate reality" says Van Spangen.
"We have had to put down about 20 bears so far this year" says Conservation Officer Gary Van Spangen "and we still have a six to eight weeks to go."
He says the bears become addicted to garbage left in outdoor containers or to the fruit that has been left on trees trees. "It is illegal to leave an attractant out that can be picked up by the bears" says Van Spangen, "We will issue warnings or tickets for people that don’t comply."
There is no one special area in the city that has been hit harder than another according to the Conservation Service. "It doesn’t matter what part of the city, we are receiving complaints which so far for 2013, stands at 800 and counting" says Van Spangen.
If you have a bear compliant you are asked to call 1-877-952-7277 and report it.
Comments
“He says the bears become addicted to garbage left in outdoor containers”
And where else are we supposed to “leave” our garbage!
I know this all came about when I didn’t live here yet, but what was the cost difference on bear proof containers? I don’t really understand why we don’t have them. We have no say in our container type and then we are blamed when bears get the garbage? Not everyone has the option to store indoors. Are there locking devices one can purchase? Practical solutions for people without indoor space would be more useful than “don’t put it outside”.
Has the city picked their apple trees yet? Who fines the city?
When you have 800 bear complaints your problem is more than garbage.
Years ago (long before the present garbage system) we did not have such a huge problem with bears. In fact it seems to me that they hung around the dumps and rarely came into town.
Have we fenced off all our garbage dumps??? So that bears now go to town for garbage?? Who knows??
In any event this is more than a bear/garbage problem. This is a serious problem that could get some people injured, and its time for the City to deal with it.
The solution is not for citizens of Prince George to hide in their houses with their garbage to avoid upsetting the bears. There are similar problems on the Island and in Greater Vancouver when it comes to rabbits and deer. On the Island you cant have a garden etc; because the ((cute)) deer will eat everything.
This problems has been caused by the **Oh aren’t they cute crowd**
“And where else are we supposed to “leave” our garbage!”
“Has the city picked their apple trees yet? Who fines the city?”
We have had a bear problem in our neighborhood. Mainly because people don’t pick their trees and/or put their garbage away. No question about it, if people were smarter, this wouldn’t be nearly as big of a problem as it has become.
It’s mostly a case of people not taking any responsibility.
Palopu: “In any event this is more than a bear/garbage problem. This is a serious problem that could get some people injured, and its time for the City to deal with it.”
In my neighborhood, it is a bear/garbage problem. It’s time for people to take responsibility. Let’s not blame the City for this one.
“Where are we supposed to put out garbage”
Good question? You can tie your garbage can lid closed. I keep mine in my basement. From experience I have tried the roof, but the crows got it, tried the sundeck but they just climbed over the fence and got it, so put it in the basement and had to remember to close the door so the dog wouldn’t get it. 8 -(
You could put it out in a garden shed and lock the shed. Get creative, there are things you could do.
I have a neighbour that entices the bear into our neighbourhood. As I write this note, his carport is strewn with garbage from last nights visit. (There is no need for this as they have a shed to keep it in, however are too lazy to secure the door on it). Guess it’s time to have the Conservation Officer pay them a visit and relieve them of some money?
To many Bear and guess what happens?
Every year we have the conservation officers, the Bear Aware members and the City telling us to store our garbage safely out of the reach of bears. Every year!
And yet every year, we continue to have brain dead citizens who can’t be bothered to do this and we end up with bears being shot!
It is my understanding that we have a bylaw that requires us to safely store our garbage and further prohibits us from putting our garbage out at the curb until 6:00 a.m. on garbage day. Yet I have one idiot in my culdesac who never stores his garbage in his garage like the rest of us do and he always puts it out at the curb a full day before garbage day. There is sits for almost 24 hours each and every week, enticing the bears for dinner. Our culdesac backs onto a very very large green space on the Hart and we have bears in the area each and every year!
If there is a bylaw in force, why doesn’t the City have one of our overpaid and under worked bylaw officers working the evening shift. They could drive around whatever part of the City that happens to have garbage pick up the next day and they could ticket anybody that has put out their garbage the night before!
Enforcement of the bylaw with tickets instead of warnings would ultimately reduce the number of bear incidents by reducing the attractants AND we could raise more revenue for the City without having to continuously raise my taxes!!!
In my books, that’s a Win-Win!!
Lets not fool ourselves. If there was sufficient food in the bush for these bears, they would not have become townies.
People moving into rural areas, locating the University in Prime animal habitat, logging, (clear cutting) mining, etc; etc; are all part of the reason that these bears are coming to town. In addition I doubt if they have easy access to the local dumps.
Furthermore the increase in Grizzly Bears, closer to towns is also a problem. The grizzlies will force the bears out of their traditional territories or kill them. A reduction in hunting bears is also a major factor. Furthermore I think the long hot summer had an effect on the berry season, and there is little if anything for them to eat.
Sooooo. This problem is much bigger than leaving your garbage out.
“This is a serious problem that could get some people injured, and its time for the City to deal with it.”
I’ll take that a bit further to say this is a serious problem that has resulted in the death of many innocent bears. Not their fault that we can’t look after our garbage. Places such as Jasper solved this in the 80’s with wildlife-proof containers located strategically throughout their community. There’s one solution. Another is to use individual wildlife-proof containers, such as those produced by Bear Saver: http://www.bearsaver.com/Residential-Poly-Carts/c555/
Question! I’m not a hunter so I wouldn’t know, do people hunt bears as much as they used to….! seems to me that we have a very healthy bear population!
The **garbage is the problem people** think that if you get rid of the garbage the bears will go away. Hmmmmm. Wonder where they will go???
Does anyone have any idea what 800 bear complaints means?? It means that we have one hell of a lot of bears wondering around the City. Granted half the City is located in the bush, so that in itself is not unusual, however the number of complaints is.
In my opinion these bears have no place to go. We have basically put the run on them in so many ways. If they cant get garbage, and there is a bad natural food season what do they do??? Either find another source of food or die. That’s their option.
Too many bears is not good for the bears.
Palopu: “Lets not fool ourselves. If there was sufficient food in the bush for these bears, they would not have become townies.”
Bears are not stupid, they will be drawn to the easiest food source, which in this case, is garbage left out by people. And once they get a taste for human garbage, they keep coming back. It is not rocket science.
You may just have to many hungry Bears?
Living out on a lake never had a Bear Garbage Problem ,mind you keeping it in a large locked 3/4″ Plywood Box helps!
jonnypg said
Question! I’m not a hunter so I wouldn’t know, do people hunt bears as much as they used to….! seems to me that we have a very healthy bear population!
Yes people do, tag for 2 bear, but who would want to eat a garbage fed bear??
I would like to see a map which has the complaint areas located on it. This city is large, with many rural properties.
Rather than a general all point bulletin, let us see how many of these complaints are from the VLA, Millar Subdivision, Seymour subdivision and the Hart and North Nechako as well as Pineview type area.
Not everyone has $400,000 houses with triple garages.
There are cities which have automated garbage pickup and use better garbage cans than we have. We did not pick the cans, the City did.
Finally, do not continue to create wildlife corridors in the subdivision planning in an area where there is wildlife which may be dangerous to people. Planners are just creating shopping centres for wildlife.
And people are surprised at the results?
So next JohnnyBelt,they will be telling us to bring our bbq’s inside also!
gus: “Not everyone has $400,000 houses with triple garages.”
Maybe not, but most everyone has a shed. And if not, buy a $3.00 bungee cord or two and tie your garbage shut. Let’s not make excuses for people who otherwise don’t care.
johnnyPG: “So next JohnnyBelt,they will be telling us to bring our bbq’s inside also!”
People who keep their BBQ’s clean shouldn’t have an issue. People who never clean their BBQ’s and leave their grills covered in bits of meat and BBQ sauce will. Again, not rocket science.
Outwest: “You may just have to many hungry Bears?
Living out on a lake never had a Bear Garbage Problem ,mind you keeping it in a large locked 3/4″ Plywood Box helps! “
Strange things like that happen when people take responsibility! ;-)
Really – hunting in a Provincial Park? Is that even legal? I have always assumed that a Provincial Park was a safe zone for animals. Why is this bear being pursued when it was clearly in its own territory. It was not roaming around looking to injure of kill a human being.
Maybe we should all go with JohnnyBelt on this one, put all the garbage in a secure place until the morning of garbage pick up.
Oooops. I forgot that JB said bears were not stupid. Is it possible they will just wait until we put the garbage out and then have their smorgasboard. They can rip open a standard garbage can pretty quickly.
I doubt if they had the option to wait until 7am to eat, or starve, that they would choose to starve.
A fricking bungy cord is not going to stop them coming into your yard at night….The bears can smell garbage for miles,Plus Johnny I’m not going to pressure wash my bbq “every” time I use it.
I live on the Hart and I remember when we had plastic bags for garbage,we never had this much of a problem.
Maybe we do need a cull…like some other critters! ;)
Rabbits
wolf’s
deer
Maybe we should just be like Palopu and continue to blame the City for the bear problem. Leave the brain dead residents out of it.
Or… maybe the Ciy could hire someone to stand beside every garbage can until it gets picked up! Yeah, that’s it.
“A fricking bungy cord is not going to stop them coming into your yard at night….The bears can smell garbage for miles,Plus Johnny I’m not going to pressure wash my bbq “every” time I use it.
I live on the Hart and I remember when we had plastic bags for garbage,we never had this much of a problem. “
So you’re saying a plastic garbage bag poses less problems than a hard plastic can with a lid (which can be secured)? Now I’ve heard everything!
How about, stop making lame excuses and take some responsibility.
Johnnypg: “Maybe we do need a cull…like some other critters! ;)”
Yeah, that’s another approach I suppose. If we kill all the surrounding wildlife, there won’t be a garbage issue. I’ll give you that! :-)
Wonder how many people phoned that spotted the same bear? Lived in PG for many years and never saw a bear. Walked many times in Moores Meadow and the Ginter Property and never saw a bear.
Saw many apple trees in our neighbourhood and the apples not picked but never saw a bear. Had apple trees in our yard and never saw a bear.
Cheers
“If we kill all the surrounding wildlife, there won’t be a garbage issue”
We do not need to use guns to kill wildlife. By encroaching on their habitat, we accomplish the same thing.
Works that way whether it is wildlife or humans.
No comparison in the numbers to previous years. What is the complaint to bear ratio?
gus: “By encroaching on their habitat, we accomplish the same thing.”
We have been ‘encroaching’ for thousands of years. Yes, us humans are indeed a plague upon this planet, but I can’t see much changing in that regard anytime soon.
I would like to ask people to NOT call the conversation officer every time they see a bear.
If you have a bear in your yard everyday, then I understand calling. First you should see why you are having the bear there everyday. If it’s something you are doing, STOP doing that. If it’s one of your neighbors, TALK to that neighbor and see if you can resolve the problem.
Quite often, in my experience, the bears are passing through and that DOESN’T require a call to the conservation officer.
NOOOOO! JB…. All I’m saying is that “we” didn’t have this bad of a problem with bears years ago!!!!I know a fricking hard plastic can is better, Geez!
Do you have to contradict everybody!!!
“Do you have to contradict everybody!!!”
No, only those who are in the wrong. :-)
I watched a video on YouTube where PG Conservation Officers fired 6 shots into a bushy area of a vacant lot in a residential area within the city limits and then left the scene. They came back 14 hours later and hauled a dead black bear out.
I would like to ask CO Gary van Spangen why did they abandon a dead or injured bear? This was a much more volatile situation then all the unsecured garbage cans in the city.
http://youtu.be/OSloKIF1Jd0
Curious if someone could answer this. What constitutes a bear complaint? Is it simply sighting a bear in the area or does the bear have to actively become a problem that poses a risk?
JB the City of PG plants apple trees then doesn’t pick the fruit so yes blame the city!
I feel the need to reply to some of the concerns and questions that have been posted here. In regards to the questions about sightings the number has a very strong possibility of one bear being spotted several times in the same area by different callers over several days and by no means should be seen as a population figure. The following links may provide some more detail. Our website will show areas of constant high numbers and please forgive the lack of current data. As a strictly volunteer society people come and people go and we have recently lost some very dedicated and capable people.
http://www.northernbearawareness.com/bear-sighting-information
This link is provided by Bear Aware and will show recent sightings as well as date, time and attractant.
http://www.bearaware.bc.ca/bearaware/
The natural food source for this year had no major setbacks but is was reported that some of the outlying areas had a low yield and poor quality crop. This time of the year is always the most active for sightings simply because of the state of a bears condition during this time of year and also because they have learned that once the natural food supply in their territory is exhausted more can be found in around the city. Once a bear discovers a source of food it will never be forgotten even if years pass by. Our home page contains a brief article on a bears condition at this time of the year as well as a well accepted theory as to why Prince George has one of the highest if not the highest number of complaints in the province. This has to do with a bearâs reproductive cycle.
The suggestion of a needed cull may actually have a negative effect on itsâ intended outcome. When there is a sharp decline in a species it has a direct effect on the âcarrying capacityâ of the environment, I will try to be brief. As an example if two or three adult male bears are removed from the population it increases the survival rate of yearling or sub-adult bears, First; by opening up a territory that was once occupied and now has an abundant food supply, Second; these younger bears are no longer under the threat of being killed by the adult male bear.
When we are asked, âWhat should I do if I see a bear in my yardâ Our first reply is âcalmly move to a safe locationâ Our second reply is âAsk yourself why is there a bear in my yard.â If you do not like having bears in your yard or in your neighborhood do not give them a reason to be there.
I hope I have provided an answer to some of the above comments.
One other thing that should be added, colder temperatures and snow does not send bears scurrying to their dens.Bears were still being sighted in the first two weeks of November of last year because of the accessibilty to unnatural attractants. Halloween is fast approaching and now is the time to remove the reasons why bears are in our neighborhoods. The sooner this is done the sooner they will leave. Please do not feed the bears and help keep our neighborhoods safe. If not for the bears how about for yourself and your neighbors.
NoWay: “JB the City of PG plants apple trees then doesn’t pick the fruit so yes blame the city!”
Just out of curiosity, where exactly are these City owned apple trees? Have they been attracting bears?
And thanks to Northern Bear Awareness for a post with some common sense.
It is possible that the reference to the City apple trees may be all of the ornamental crab apple trees that dot our city. These apples are about the size of a large grape, very bitter and of not much use except as pig feed as we recently found out. Bears will eat these but are not their first choice as they are a lot of work to get at.
in regards to the ornamental crab apple trees and that it’s not the bears first choice; tell that to the bear that destroyed my crab apple tree
No mention from Bear Awareness about grizzly bears taking over the habitat of the black bear. Is this a valid reason for more bears closer to the Cities???
There is no doubt that over the years there has been a lot of progress in keeping garbage way from bears. Problem is the number of bears keeps increasing, so how can this happen. Less food should mean less bears. Hmmmmmm.
Just drive around JB and take a look! Any tree within 10 feet of a curb is a city tree. The home owners didn’t plant these trees the city did. Does the city go around and pick the apples off of these trees? No! But they prune these trees so don’t get caught pruning them yourself.
“These apples are about the size of a large grape, very bitter and of not much use except as pig feed as we recently found out.”
Ironically aren’t bears a member of the swine family?!
Johnnybelt, I answered this question for Gus last year (yep the same debate goes on). The City has Crabapple trees at the Cranbrook Hill end of 15th Ave. as well as at the end of the Island Cache/River trail system. Those are the 2 that I know of & both areas frequented by bears. In the 15th Ave. area the fact that the trees are on the grass in between lanes compounds the problem in that bears going for that fruit run the risk of getting hit by vehicles.
It is difficult to comment on something which has not been heard before.So a comment on the statement of grizzly taking over black habitat would be unsupported. This is known grizzly/black encounters will end in the death of the black. Estimated BB populations in BC 160,000..Estimated GB populations 16,000.
Bears belong to the family Ursidae, pigs belong to the family Suidae. Following the Scientific Classification line. after both have spines and both being mammals pigs are separated out because they have even numbered toes and become more closely related to ungulates, the only other commonality is that they are both omnivores
Bears are awesome and such beautiful animals. It sucks that they have to be killed simply because humans encroach their habitat with housing developments and clear cutting.
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