Time to Be Bear Aware
Dave Bakker, president, Northern Bear Awareness Society – photo 250 News
Prince George, B.C. – With spring upon us, Northerners are being reminded to be bear aware again.
Dave Bakker, president of the Northern Bear Awareness Society, says all people need to do is consistently secure their garbage and take down their bird feeders to avoid conflicts with the animals.
But tragically he notes, the message is still not getting through, especially when compared to other jurisdictions.
“Look at Whistler, from 1995 to 2015, they’ve destroyed 254 bears. In 10 years in Prince George, we’ve destroyed 356.”
Stats for the past five years in Prince George:
2010: 85 bears destroyed
2011: 12 bears destroyed
2012: 30 bears destroyed
2013: 32 bears destroyed
2014: 45 bears destroyed
Why the success in Whistler?
“The program there is very good, they’ve gotten into the bear smart laws. Restaurants are being compliant with how they dispose of their waste,” says Bakker.
“They also have some by-laws in place that are enforced. You’re also looking at a tourist stop with a lot of people wandering around at night, so it’s very important.”
He says Coquitlam is another jurisdiction that’s had success noting “just last year they had more calls for service than we did but they only destroyed 10 bears.”
Why only 10?
“Coquitlam has by-laws in place where you can’t put your garbage out and they also have developed their own attachment for their garbage cans that locks lids down.”
He says it would be great to enact the latter law here in Prince George, but notes it comes with a big cost.
“For the city to invest in bear resistant garbage cans, it’s a $2 million price-tag, and that’s not going to happen.”
Bakker says a Prince George bylaw states you cannot put your garbage out before 4 am on garbage collection days but notes it’s tough to enforce.
“You’re looking at a city employee who has to drive around at 4 in the morning. There’s also a lot of shift workers who don’t have that choice. They have to put their garbage out before they go to work.”
He says that leaves the responsibility to individual citizens to contain bear attractants.
“How many times do you roll the dice before something happens? (to his knowledge there have been no negative human/bear encounters since the society began in 1999). A negative encounter will mean all-out war against the bears.”
Comments
How much per garbage can for the attachment to lock the lids down? Do they work with our automated trucks?
2 million, it is in the article, The city should have thought of this before they went with the cans they did, would have been a ton cheaper back then, I used to have my own cans that were bear resistant and they worked great, these city ones just need to be tipped so bears love them
Hartly 2 the question you asked should have a simple answer but it requires some investigation. It is thought that cities, not just PG, that allow permanent modifications to waste bins face some conflict with suppliers. This is the assumption,will try to find more details and post later today.
maybe the city should go around and get rid of the god awful apple trees that are everywhere or send out crews to pick up all the apples after thy have hit the ground. that would probably help deter the bears as well
The garbage cans are not the only concern I have. The recycle bins will be adding to the problem. Since recycling bins have come into effect I have seen more garbage lying around in neighbourhoods from the animals – 4 legging ones to the flying ones.
Wondering why they did not supply lids for those when other jurisdictions have them. There are a lot of people that do not wash out cans etc. and throw pizza boxes etc. into the bins which attract animals.
There are “bear proofing” kits that can be added to the containers. This is something the City of Prince George should have researched and priced out when sending out the Tenders for the Carts that work with the Automated Trucks, it would have been cheaper to have them added then they it will be to do it now. One of the major problems with the type of bear proofing though is that the residents need to unlock the latches when they place it out on the curb on collection day.
Looks like we have plenty of Bears around, the more we have the larger the Interaction will get. I just hope no one gets killed with that many Bears wandering around the City!
a locked garbage can is not going to stop the bears from coming into the city. a locked can does not prevent the smell of garbage and a bear follows his nose for food most of the time. “bear proofing” garbage cans will not prevent a bear from coming and investigating the source of the smell which can still lead to a human/bear issue. sometimes these devices will help prevent bears from returning to that same source but not to often.
best way I think is to remove the source or remove the bears. would rather see money spent on either of these possibilities instead of modified containers.
my thoughts only. have a great safe day.
Whistler a success? Whistler is a designated “bearsmart” community and the annual shooting of 25 bears by conservation officers is atrocious.
Remember when the Conservation Officer Service proclaimed that once “bearsmart” the killing of bears will come down to a trickle and officers will convert to hazing bears out of residential areas. We all know how sincere they were when they fast tracked the killing of world famous Whistler black bear “Jeannie”.
Prince George is not a “bearsmart community and any bear that trespasses into the city is fair game to be shot by conservation officers. Remember when the Conservation Officer Service proclaimed on their website that even a bear that tips over a garbage can should not be a death candidate? Apparently, local conservation officers were not informed.
A prominent remark by our conservation officers is, “I have to kill the bears because you did not secure your garbage and attracted the bears”. No, you shoot the bears because they are a species of no concern to you, vermin. Leave them alone and they most likely move on and leave the city.
Remember when conservation officers were adamant that a black bear that killed a donkey on the outskirt of town and a grizzly family that killed a calf in Salmon Valley will return and be more destructive? Guess what, the bears did not return. They moved on.
Sometimes assumptions are correct. There was a company that supplied an aftermarket attachment for waste containers but all efforts to locate them again have failed. The city of Coquitlam initially purchased these locking devices but found that the bin manufactures had issues with modifications to the containers. Some other issues of concern, the attachments sometimes impeded the proper dumping of waste into the vehicle, lids not closing properly, the installation process, cost and availability. The City of Coquitlam garbage bins are styled different from ours and their patented device will not fit our containers.
As is the case here in Prince George, any modifications that attach hardware with nuts, bolts and screws or require holes be made will potentially cause problems with the collection process. The city of Prince George is “OK” with devices that will secure the lid but it must be something that can be removed on collection day so that is does not interfere with pick up. Cargo straps and the smaller cinch straps have been the most effective with bungee cords and rope providing some success. It must be kept in mind that while these devices secure the lid, the container can still be tossed around causing damage to nearby objects or vehicles. We at NBAS have always considered the storage of waste bins in a garage, shed or constructing a smaller fixed storage enclosure the best solution. All we ask is to do the best you can to avoid attracting bears.
So if there is an enterprising engineer out there who has some ideas on a removable device that will secure our container lids without modification, here is your chance.
The Whistler numbers may suggest that 25 bears a year are destroyed but it must be said that until 2006 the dump/landfill was a gathering spot for bears since 1992. Per year data from 1995 until 2015 would better show the differences. A story from the local Whistler paper includes a statement from the Bear Smart Director that as of August 2014 the destruction of 10 bears was the worst she has seen. This would suggest the earlier years before the introduction of Bear Smart a larger portion of the total bears destroyed happened in the previous years. This is also the case in PG with sharp rises and declines over a 10 year period.
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