B.C. bear interactions with people skyrocketing, leading to more deaths

Negative interactions between bears and British Columbians have been skyrocketing in recent years.

The BC Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) said calls regarding bears have gone up 100 per cent this past summer.

While officials said it’s a good sign that the bear population is doing well, these interactions are leading to a large number of bears being killed.

“When these bears get to a point that the food conditioning (and) the threat to the public is too high, we have to do our job and we will do our job,” Len Butler said, BC Conservation Officer Service’s deputy chief.

More than 150 black bears have been killed by BCCOS officers so far in 2023. In August, they got more than 6,000 black bear-related calls from across the province.

A B.C. non-profit charity, the Fur-Bearers, has said that access to garbage is too easy in human-dense areas. It tracked the deadliest communities for black bears in the province in 2022.

“Black bears are often killed when they begin accessing garbage and spend time in human-dense areas seeking unnatural food sources from unsecured attractants,” said Aaron Hofman, the Fur-Bearers’ director of advocacy and policy.

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“By identifying communities where bears are killed with greater frequency, questions about systemic issues can be asked, and the killing can end.”

The non-profit is urging local governments, regional districts and community members to play their part in protecting bears.

“Local governments, businesses, and residents in these communities need to address the significant number of black bears being killed,” Hofman said.

“Wildlife is typically seen as a provincial responsibility, but provincial officers cannot respond to every potential attractant issue like unsecured garbage, or every incident of wildlife feeding. Municipalities need to take leadership and implement measures to manage attractants including garbage, bird feeders, fruit trees and wildlife feeding. These efforts will help protect people and wildlife.”

According to government statistics, the B.C. Conservation Service killed 4,279 black bears between 2015 and 2022.

Butler agrees with the Fur-Bearers that access to garbage for black bears is far too easy at times.

“We agree that we have to do better with garbage management … that is something that we should be able to work together on, assist in communities to do more work with bylaws and enforce bylaws on garbage,” he told Global News. “We only have a number of officers in each area that are able to attend. Our officers are stretched to an extreme limit.”

The BCCOS deputy chief said the best way to protect bears is for municipalities and regional districts to work in collaboration with its service.

“They have to get on board and we have to start working more together on this and that will result, hopefully, in less bears getting put down,” Butler said.

The B.C. government has a number of tips for dealing with bear encounters:

• Do not feed bears. It’s against the law to feed dangerous wildlife.
• Remain calm. Do not run or climb a tree. Slowly back away, talking to the bear in a quiet, monotone voice. Do not scream, turn your back on the bear, kneel down or make direct eye contact.
• Keep away from the bear. Do not try to get closer to it. If the bear gets too close, use pepper spray (within 7 metres) or something else to threaten or distract it.
• Stay together. If you are with others, act as a group. Keep children close – pick up and carry small children.
• Go indoors. Bring pets indoors if possible.

Watch the bear until it leaves. Make sure the bear has a clear escape route. After the bear is gone and it’s safe, make sure there is nothing in the area that will attract bears back.