Bear encounters are becoming all too common on Vancouver Island and in other parts of B.C.
Conservation officers have noticed a huge spike in the number of habituated bears, resulting in a record number of calls.
“it’s definitely been the busiest late summer, early fall we’ve ever seen,” said conservation officer Peter Pauwels.
Compared to September of last year, bear-related calls have jumped from 3,000 to nearly 4,500.
The spike in bear sightings comes after a long, hot summer that saw berry crops end early, leaving bears with little choice but to stray into communities in search of food.
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“A lot of times that means coming into town and getting garbage, bird feeders and pet food, whatever we leave out,” said Frank Ritcey of WildSafeBC.
“A bear thinks 24/7 about one thing and that’s food,” said Debbie Read of Wild Wise Sooke.
Read is taking it upon herself to educate her community about its role in all of this, going door to door to hand out information about how best to secure garbage and other items from bears.
“If we could clean up all of our attractions and the bear has no food source, they basically move onto eating what they’re supposed to eat,” said Read.
It would go a long way to take the pressure off officials who often have no choice but to put down habituated bears once they’re trapped.
“It’s been a very difficult year for us and it’s not over yet,” said Pauwels.
Encounters aren’t expected to ease up until bears go into hibernation in late November.
-With files from Kylie Stanton
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