Human-bear conflicts in Lower Mainland on track to top last year's numbers
Credit to Author: Glenda Luymes| Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2019 00:44:12 +0000
B.C. conservation officers are bracing for a busy fall as black bears begin their annual “feeding frenzy” in advance of hibernation, potentially adding to the high number of human-bear conflicts reported in B.C. this year.
The Conservation Officer Service has received 2,842 bear reports in the Lower Mainland in the five months since April, compared to 3,811 in the previous 12 months, while the number of bears euthanized since April has almost surpassed last year’s total, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Environment.
Between April 1 and August 13, conservation officers destroyed 38 problem bears in the Lower Mainland, including 33 in the Maple Ridge forest district and five in the North Vancouver District, compared to 44 bears between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019.
While last year was a below-average year for human-bear conflicts, this year looks like it could come close to 2017, which was one of the busiest years on record for the Conservation Officer Service, said Insp. Murray Smith.
Bears who become accustomed to obtaining food from garbage cans, cars or even houses will no longer look for natural sources of food and begin to pose a danger to the public, says Conservation Officer Service Insp. Murray Smith.
“When you look at the five-year average, it’s hard to identify a trend, since every year is quite different,” he said.
“So far, we are seeing an above-average number of calls this year on the South Coast. We’re probably at one-third higher in reporting right now.”
Smith said it’s difficult to determine the cause of the spike. In 2017, officers attributed the high volume of calls in part to hot weather that dried out berries and reduced the bears’ food supply.
“I think we’ve had a fairly balanced year (in terms of weather),” he said. “There should be no reason for bears to come into the community because there is food in the forest. If they do, I think it’s probably because attractants are not being secured well enough.”
Bears who become accustomed to obtaining food from garbage cans, cars or even houses will no longer look for natural sources of food and begin to pose a danger to the public, Smith said. Decisions about how to deal with food-conditioned bears are made after determining the bear’s history and how habituated it has become.
“No conservation officer gets into this job to destroy bears,” he said. “If we have to euthanize wildlife, it’s done because we have no alternative.”
Relocating bears is costly and often unsuccessful since the food-conditioned bear will continue to pose a threat to any humans it encounters as it associates them with food.
“Where can we take that bear where they won’t encounter another person?” asked Smith.
Finding a place for cubs has also become difficult. Earlier this year, Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley announced that it had run out of space for orphaned bear cubs after taking in 18 bears.
North Shore Black Bear Society executive director Christine Miller wants to see the Conservation Officer Service better funded so it can engage in more preventive work and enforcement.
“Their training should include more understanding of bear behaviour,” said the longtime bear educator. “I think in some of the decisions, there’s a lack of personnel and a lack of time.”
With better staffing levels, officers could attend calls more quickly and “reach bears before they enter a community” and become habituated to humans and garbage, she said. She’d also like to see relocated bears tagged to test the idea that relocation doesn’t work.
North Shore Black Bear Society executive director Christine Miller wants to see the Conservation Officer Service better funded so it can engage in more preventive work and enforcement.
The Conservation Officer Service has come under fire for its handling of problem bears after several high-profile cases where bears were killed.
In late July, conservation officers destroyed three bears in Coquitlam, while police arrested three residents for obstruction after they allegedly stepped between the officers and a mother bear with two cubs.
Officers were trying to direct the garbage-raiding bears up a tree so they could be tranquilized and euthanized. The bears ended up being killed by the officers.
The Conservation Officer Service said the animals, which were severely underweight, were a danger to public safety because they had become habituated to humans and reliant on human-sourced food.
WildSafeBC provincial coordinator Vanessa Isnardy said tackling the root causes of human-bear conflicts is not glamorous, but “it’s the day-to-day habits that make a difference.”
Proper garbage storage is key, as is not letting ripe fruit fall on the ground where it will attract bears.
“If you’re not picking it, you might want to consider replacing it with a tree that doesn’t produce fruit,” she said. “Bears are creatures of habit. A sow will teach her offspring that the tree is a predictable source of food.”
Since April, conservation officers have euthanized 38 bears in the Lower Mainland, relocated seven, scared away nine and taken five cubs for rehabilitation, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Environment.
Between April 2015 and March 2016, conservation officers euthanized 12 bears. The following year, the number of euthanizations rose to 43. Between April 2017 and March 2018, 47 bears were killed, while last year the number was 44.
The number of euthanizations as a percentage of total calls about problem bears has remained steady at 0.01 per cent – with the exception of the Maple Ridge forest district this year, where the percentage of euthanized bears is at 0.02 per cent since April.
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