Prince George, B.C. – An improvement so far this year when it comes to human/wildlife conflict in B.C.

Deputy chief Chris Doyle of the Conservation Officer Service says reported conflicts are down nine percent (7,032 human-wildlife calls to RAPP line this year compared to 7,843 calls at this time last year) from April to July of this year over last.

Despite the drop, he says these types of conflicts are still occurring and notes people need to keep in mind the following:

• Secure attractants around your homes. Make sure garbage has been ‘bear proofed’ or is inaccessible to bears.
• Campers should be mindful of any food or other attractants around their campsites. Doyle recommends using bear resistant food lockers or at the very least store items in your vehicle.
• It’s an offence to negligently store attractants that may attract dangerous wildlife.

He says a recent human/wildlife conflict of note occurred when conservation officers (CO’s) in Burns Lake successfully captured and relocated a grizzly bear in the Topley area – between Burns Lake and Houston.

“This adult grizzly was frequenting a residential area and had a number of interactions with people and dogs. So fortunately we were able to capture that bear before the conflict level escalated and moved it to a safer location.”