Wildsafe BC was out in some West Kelowna neighbourhoods Wednesday warning residents not to place their garbage out the night before pickup because it attracts bears.
Community coordinator Andrea Tait said in some neighbourhoods, as many as half the residents are not getting the message and continue to place their garbage out the night before pickup.
Tait said that is putting the community at risk.
“It’s attracting bears into the neighbourhood. By placing it out the night before, it is sitting out for several hours during the evening and all through the morning hours when bears are most active so it is quite a danger to the community.”
On Wednesday evening, she was making the rounds of three neighbourhoods in West Kelowna and placing warning stickers on bins that have been left out the night before pickup.
In the Shannon Woods area, Tait said it appears bears may have beaten her to the garbage because she found bins knocked over and garbage strewn around.
Tait said it is often the bears who end up paying the price when humans leave out garbage.
“If the bear gets into garbage on a regular basis, they can become aggressive and then become a danger to the community. Often in those cases the conservation officers have no choice but to euthanize the animal,” Tait said.
Tait said that current West Kelowna bylaws state residents should not put their garbage out until 7 a.m. on the morning of pickup.
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