June has been a busy month for wildlife sightings in the Central Okanagan.
Last week, WildSafeBC reported high levels of bear activity along the west side of Okanagan Lake.
This week, a few people gathered along a Peachland beach to watch a moose swimming across the lake, with local police later admonishing them for not giving the animal a wide berth.
Then, on Friday, a Kelowna woman captured video of a bear in her backyard.
Filmed from a patio and looking down, the video shows the tan-and-brown bear slowly walking along a hedge-lined walkway before encountering a fence and gate.
The bear checks out the gate before nimbly hopping over it, close to what a person would do.
According to WildSafeBC, there have been 23 bear sightings in Kelowna’s Upper and Southwest Mission neighbourhoods.
Across the lake, in West Kelowna, WildSafeBC is reporting 80 sightings of bears, and nine in Peachland.
A WildSafeBC interactive map showing bear and other animal sightings can be viewed here.
The map shows many sightings throughout B.C.’s Southern Interior, along with scores in the Lower Mainland, notably in the Tri-Cities region and Maple Ridge.
For more about bear awareness, and how to reduce human-animal conflict, click here.