Spring is in the air and people are heading out into the great outdoors more often. That means human-wildlife conflicts are on the rise, according to BC Conservation Officer Service (BC COS) Deputy Chief Chris Doyle.
“We’ve had about 1400 human-wildlife conflicts reported to the COS since April 1. Last year, over the course of a full year, we had about 15,000 human-wildlife conflicts reported to us.”
He says hungry bears are looking for whatever food they can find and it’s up to people to minimize the chance of conflicts.
“Bears are emerging from their dens, some with cubs. They’ll be searching for food. They will be searching for non-natural food. It is unlawful in BC to feed or attract dangerous wildlife or to store attractants negligently that could attract dangerous wildlife.”
The COS recommends giving bears a wide berth, especially sows with cubs. But some people just have no sense when it comes to interacting with wildlife.
“We have been receiving complaints of bear jams on the highway and people feeding or attempting to feed bears,” says Doyle. “We’re following up on those complaints.”
Bear Aware’s Dave Bakker says these encounters often end badly for the bears. He got his last update on human-bear encounters a couple of weeks ago.
“There had been over 20 complaints and, as far as I know, for bears destroyed, I know it’s already happened but I have no idea how many.”
According to Bakker, about 40 local bears are destroyed every year due to conflicts with people.
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