Bear Aware

Having lived in Britain for most of my life, where the most dangerous thing you’ll encounter in the wild is a badger, I have to admit that the prospect of having a bear wander into my Fernie garden was a bit alarming!

Last fall, I had the good fortune to meet Sarah Smith, Elk Valley Bear Aware Coordinator. When I asked her advice on how I could be a good bear neighbor she kindly offered to educate me with a night reconnaissance to Elkford.

It was the night before garbage collection and we were cruising the streets looking for garbage bins. Sarah explained that when food is scarce in the mountains, the bears move down into the valley and invariably towns, looking for food.

That night we had to knock on a few doors, asking people to bring their garbage inside until the morning but, thankfully saw no bears. We did, however, see one bear trap, set to catch a black bear that was becoming a frequent visitor. An ominous reminder of what happens when bears become reliant on our garbage as a food source.

The Elk Valley is home to the largest density of grizzly bears in the interior and as residents in bear habitat we have to be aware of activities that attract bears into town to feed. They are looking for food and garbage bins, compost, fruit trees, BBQ’s and bird-feeders are all fast-food outlets to a bear.

Back in Fernie, our Bear Aware Community Coordinator Kathy Murray told me “Bears do and will pass through Fernie. We have chosen to live in this beautiful environment and the fact that we have grizzly and black bears in our back yard is an indication that we have a balanced ecosystem. But lets do our bit to ensure that we do not entice them to become comfortable in the community.”

The bottom line is that bears are natural scavengers, have great memories and will remember an easy food source. As a result, they readily form an association between the presence of people or developments and the likelihood that food will be available.

When bears learn to associate people with food and lose their fear of humans it’s too late. Bears may become aggressive, bolder and potentially pose a threat to human safety. As a result such bears have to be destroyed because relocation strategies, so far, have proven ineffective.

Kathy was telling me that three years ago there was a black bear feeding off crab apples and living on 3rd Avenue, right in the centre of town. The bear had a ready supply of food and was living in their tree house. I know this sounds cute, but that bear was living next door to a young family and had became so comfortable with human encounters that he was eventually destroyed.

After four years of amazing work, Sarah has now stepped down as the Elk Valley Bear Aware Coordinator and has been replaced by Fernie local Courtenay Sopko.

Bear Aware is an educational program designed to prevent and reduce conflicts
between people and bears. Community Coordinators deliver the program part-time from May through to November.

Kathy and Courtenay spend their days checking the hotline for bear sightings and bear complaints and working closely with the Conservation Officer Service, bear biologists and various government sectors. They go out and talk to callers, school groups and the general public to offer advice and assistance. Communicating sightings and bear activity to the press and radio is a daily task and remember to look out for them at local community events.

“This years weather has already changed bears activities, with an unusually high number of bears having come into town already,” says Kathy. “A low snow pack has caused bears to come out of hibernation early and a cold, wet May has kept bears searching for easy food sources in valley bottoms in close proximity to our communities”.

How to be a good bear neighbor:
- Keep your garbage in a secure area, either in a locked garage or in the house.
- Don’t put garbage out the night before collection day.
- Store ‘smelly’ food garbage in the freezer until collection day.
- Bring in your birdfeeders.
- Manage your fruit trees responsibly. Sign up for the apple share program at the Cottonwood Tree or online at: www.ecogarden.ca.

Help us prevent bear-human conflict by reporting bear sightings and incidents to the toll free 24 hour hotline, 1-877-952-7277 or contact Bear Aware on 250-423-6406 or email bearawarefernie@gmail.com

For more information you can contact Kathy Murray directly and remember to look out for news locally in newspapers, on the radio and online at: www.bearaware.bc.ca