By Adam Berls

bears

Bear advisory committee starts work

Aug 1, 2024 | 3:26 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — Here in Prince George, we are all too familiar with the presence of bears in our parks and in our backyards. Prince George’s Advisory Committee on Bear Awareness held their second meeting at the end of July and one item discussed was the potential of a Bear Smart program.

Nicole Botten, President of the Northern Bear Awareness Society, says over the years the city has made progress on becoming a bear smart community, by among other things, changing garbage cans in all community parks from just barrel cans with a swing top, to bear resistent garbage cans. Bear smart bylaws have also been implemented, including one which relates to not leaving garbage out at night, the day before garbage collection.

The committee’s work will last four months. Members of the committee are expected to meet regularly during its term and to engage in research and information gathering activities to best inform the committee’s recommendations to Council. The goal of the committee is to increase bear awareness and promote both public and bear safety.

The Northern Bear Awareness Society noted that a pilot project that ran in Prince George from 2019 to 2022 on the Hart was successful in deterring bears. The only problem was that the latch on those cans was unreliable in cold weather. In fact latches on 22 of the 300 carts used had to be replaced. The only hitch is the estimated cost of $7 million dollars to replace the city’s 25,000 automated garbage cans, which the city said would be equal to a 5.8% tax increase.

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Just a few weeks ago, Prince George was rated British Columbia’s deadliest city for black bears to live as 76 were put down by the BC Conservation Officer Service in 2023. Despite Prince George having the deadliest city for black bears title, there have been successes over the years, to help reduce human-bear interactions.

The next meeting of the advisory committee is set for August 22.

To report a bear, you can call the BC Conservation Office at 1-877-952-7277.

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X: @AdamBerls

Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com