Wild Wise Society, a Sooke-based outdoor education group, is asking people to take steps to reduce human-bear conflict.
Around this time every year, bears eat as much as possible – often up to 20,000 calories per day – to prepare for hibernation.
"With their appetite in overdrive, bears will often venture further from their natural habitats, sometimes into human areas in search of easy food sources like garbage, bird feeders, pet food and even unclean grills or compost," said Wild Wise in a news release. "Over time, this can lead to escalated behaviours where bears get too comfortable in residential areas, increasing the risk of conflicts."
Unfortunately, human-bear friction often results in euthanasia – Black Press recently reported that, in 2023 alone, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service killed 603 bears, many of which ventured into towns and neighbourhoods for a quick, easy meal.
To prevent habituation, Wild Wise Society recommends removing bird feeders, cleaning barbecues and outdoor areas of food, feeding pets indoors, picking fruit while it's ripe to prevent windfall, securing livestock and storing garbage and compost in sealed containers away from places bears can access them.
For more information about Wise Wise and bear habituation, visit: www.wildwisesociety.org.
