Last month, a grizzly was destroyed after hanging around the streets of Smithers for too long, eating garbage. The conservation officer I spoke with was disappointed in a lot of people for leaving their garbage cans out.
However, he also said that a lot of people aren’t educated in bear proofing their homes or don’t have the means to keep bear attractants put away properly. As a community, we should be doing more. We should be helping our neighbours and working together.
Recently, The Fur-Bearers, a non-partisan, registered charity used freedom of information legislation to access data about where black bears are killed by the BCCOS annually, with the goal of helping communities make changes to reduce negative encounters, and ultimately deaths of black bears.
Last year, Prince George topped the list with 76 bears killed. Kamloops was second with 31, Mackenzie next with 28 and then Smithers with 24 bears destroyed.
Conservation officers don’t want to kill bears but sometimes they don’t have a choice. The Fur Bearers noted that many of the encounters that lead to COS officers killing black bears could be avoided with attractant management – such as garbage being left unsecured or put curbside inappropriately, fruit from trees being left uncollected, bird feeders and others.
Urban expansion and resource development also lead to bears exploring areas they may otherwise avoid.
There is a Bear Smart Community Program in the province and towns can be eligible for a provincial “Bear Smart” status. This is something that Smithers and other areas in the Northwest can strive for.
The Bear Smart Community Program is a proactive conservation initiative that encourages efforts by communities, businesses and individuals to reduce human-bear conflicts. It is a cooperative venture that recognizes the responsibility to manage bear-human conflicts rests with everyone and will require participation from the provincial government, municipal governments and local citizens to be effective.
It is community-led, entirely voluntary on the part of the community, and acknowledges that each community will be unique in the conflicts that occur and the opportunities that exist to reduce those conflicts.
There are numerous things that can be done to get this status, including implementing Bear Smart bylaws and starting a continuing education program.
Another way to lower bear-human conflicts is to develop and maintain a bear-proof waste management system.
The BC Conservation Officer Service said that ensuring all components of municipal waste management including waste, recycling and composting are managed appropriately and made inaccessible to bears.
This may be done through bylaws, the use of bear-resistant containers and/or electric fencing. There are such things as bear-proof trash cans that are also compliant with fully automated and semi-automated collection systems. They have an enclosed trigger lock that prevents unwanted access. This is something the town of Smithers should be looking into when upgrading the garbage cans next time.
Obviously, there is a higher cost but we choose to live in bear country and we should be doing more to save the wildlife.
