Black bear complaints in B.C. nearly double from previous year
Province's conservation service is calling on people to secure their garbage and collect fruit from trees
The number of calls reporting black bear conflicts in the province has nearly doubled this year compared to the previous year, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
The service says it has received nearly 9,000 calls since April — up from the 4,900 calls over the same period last year.
The spike has been even more dramatic in the Lower Mainland, says provincial WildSafeBC coordinator Frank Ritcey.
"We've got a lot of conflict going down in your area. The calls are closer to four times what they were last year," Ritcey told guest host Stephen Quinn on CBC's The Early Edition.
The increase in calls stems from B.C.'s late spring this year, Ritcey said, which meant less natural food for bears coming out of hibernation.
It has forced them to go back to urban areas to what they know best: garbage.
"Once they get into high-calorie food like our garbage — or bird feeders or fruit trees — then it's really hard for them to switch back to the natural foods," Ritcey said.
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Keep garbage and fruit away
The conservation service is asking British Columbians to be more proactive in deterring bears, especially by securing their garbage.
Garbage-related complaints make up more than half of the calls about B.C.'s black bears, Ritcey said.
The conservation service fielded more than 150 calls earlier this spring over bear sightings in Burnaby, B.C., including some that were spotted picking through garbage and dumpsters.
Under the B.C. Wildlife Act, it's an offence to feed dangerous wildlife or leave out any attractants such as trash.
Residents are also being asked to pick fruits from their trees and collect fruits that have fallen.
B.C.'s fruit season coincides with a hungry period for bears. During the summer, they eat as much as 15,000 to 20,000 calories a day to prepare for hibernation.
"They will come back if they got a reward in your tree. But if they come back and the fruit's gone, they're going to move on," Ritcey said.
Conservation officers are also promoting the use of electric fences, which Ritcey said are simple to set up and a proven deterrent.
Once they're habituated, it's tough for bears to unlearn their behaviour, and relocation often doesn't work, he said.
"The bears will come back over 100 kilometres to the place where they were taken from because they know that's where they can get their food," he said.
"It's really not fair to the bear to use that as a solution."
With files from CBC's The Early Edition