PRINCE GEORGE- A new report this week revealed the deadliest communities for bears in British Columbia.
Prince George ranked first with a shocking 36 confirmed Black bear kills in 2021. A stat the Northern Bear Awareness Society is not happy with.
“It’s terrible, Something that Prince George could easily fix,” says Ty Cloarec.
“The bears in Prince George are not the problem,” adds Bear Education Specialist Tei Daneluk. “Those who are not properly managing their attractants are killing the bears.”
The Northern Bear Awareness Society described attractants as garbage, bird feeders and fruit trees. All things black bears often visit, which leads to more problems.
“People have noted that these bears are no longer afraid of them when they’re yelling and screaming and trying to get them to be scared away,” says Daneluk. “That’s because the bear has become garbage habituated and food-conditioned.”
It means that bears in Prince George have become comfortable around humans, rendering the usual methods of scaring off bears ineffective.
“The community says that the bears walk over their fences. They have no issues with fences,” said Cloarec. They would walk their yards, snoop around and go through their neighbour’s garbage.”
Tei Daneluk told CKPG news that when a black bear becomes garbage habituated and food-conditioned, it is more likely to be killed.
“The problems arise when that bear is obviously no longer afraid of people because it’s a public safety risk.”
Since 2015, 231 Black Bears have been killed in Prince George, making up 6% of all black bears killed in British Columbia in that period.
If you would like to see the report, click here.
