The West Coast’s summer season is off to an ominous start for a trio of black bears who have already become addicted to unnatural food sources.
“Compared to this time last year, there’s fewer bears active in our West Coast communities, but unfortunately the ones that are in the communities right now are really fully food conditioned,” WildSafeBC Pacific Rim coordinator Bob Hansen told the Westerly News. “They’re following their noses to all kinds of unsecured, unnatural food sources in the communities.”
Eight bears were killed in the region last year due to food-conditioning and while no deaths have been reported so far this season, one bear in Ucluelet, one bear in Hitacu and one bear in Tofino are showing behaviours that typically put the animals on death row.
“Once they become food conditioned, it tends to follow a fairly predictable pattern where there’s more potential for property damage and more potential for what we refer to as defensive-aggressive behaviour…It’s really, really difficult to turn that around,” he said.
“If someone approaches a bear to try to chase it away from their cart, then instead of getting a response where the bear runs away, it may actually stand its ground and try to push you away…The situations get more intense as time goes on.”
He encourages all residents to check out WildSafeBCPacific Rim’s facebook page at www.Facebook.com/WildSafeBCPacificRim and the ACRD’s www.letsconnectacrd.ca site for tips on how to properly anchor and secure their carts.
“There’s just a ton of examples, information and very clear instructions. By following those steps, you can really minimize the risk of having a bear show up in your yard or, if they do, they’ll just be passing quickly through because there’s really nothing for them,” he said.
“The big message is that we have to prevent them from getting food conditioned. That’s the only true solution…Those animals are really at risk once they become food conditioned and the community is as well.”
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
READ MORE: Tofino man found guilty of killing bear cub and sow as judge rejects self-defence claim
READ MORE: Bears broke into 35 vehicles in Tofino-Ucluelet this year
READ MORE: Bear destroys vehicle in Ucluelet after getting trapped inside
