‘Don’t have headphones on’: Safety urged when BC bears emerge from hibernation

The officials urge residents to be vigilant and protect their garbage cans while BC bears wake up from their winter lethargy in the coming weeks.

There are between 120,000 and 150,000 black bears in the province, second Advocacy Wildsafebc groupAnd Dozy bears begin to become more active in spring after months of sleep.

Safety supporters of wildlife and conservation agents urge residents to be aware of what is found in the woods.

The city of Kamloops is launching a program to offer garbage bins resistant to the bear throughout the city, since officials and supporters say that unsecured garbage cans are the main cause of the conflict with human coffers.

Watch | Port Moody works to coexist with bears:

Port Moody, BC, who works to coexist with black bears

Port Moody has been officially given the “bear smart” designation of the province, as part of the effort to build communities in which people and bears can coexist in urban environments. As Michelle Morton of the CBC reports, it arrives after the conservation agents killed a number of black bears decades last year.

“Especially now it is spring and people have been locked up in their home … they want to go out, do a job in the pipeline,” said Dan Milokay, coordinator of WildsaFebc in Maple Ridge, BC “will leave the garage door open while working in the courtyard.

“The bear smells of garbage, enters the garage and … grabs food like a lasagna and runs out, eats it. And then they come back for more.”

Milokay says that the bears that have been used to human food can try to tear garage doors and break the windows once they want to get their reward.

But the lawyer says that the number of bears that are killed in Maple Ridge went down in the last decade, which has attributed to greater education and safety efforts.

“Don’t have headphones or cross the park looking at your mobile phone. Be aware of the surrounding environment,” Milokay recommended.

The lawyer said that, in addition to looking for paths and signs of claws, the British Colombians should listen to the sound of animals such as crows when they are out in the backcountry.

“The crows are almost like the drones of nature,” he said. “They will change their CAW to warn small animals from the ground, such as squirrels and things, which a predator is in the area. They must hide.

“As long as you walk and you are listening to and you will know, ‘oh, it seems different from what I’m used to seeming, then this puts you on alert.”

The responsible for conservation urges attention

Second Numbers collected From the official BC conservation service, a total of 303 black bears were killed last year, a 603 drop in 2023.

Between 500 and 600 they are generally killed almost every year, with the highest number recorded 632 in 2019.

Murray Smith, a conservation officer who works out of the mission, BC, office, says that during spring, the office gets between 30 and 60 relationships per day, most of which has to deal with bears.

“Fruit trees, garbage, bird seeds are all attractive high and high for bears,” he said. “These are the areas that must be really concentrated by the public, so we do not bring bears to our community unnecessarily.”

In the city of Kamloops, the city is launching a program in which residents can pay $ 20 per year to obtain garbage bins resistant to the bear.

“Not everyone has access to a garage or a shed to keep, preserve, their bear resistant trolleys,” said Danielle Sparks, supervisor of environmental services for the city.

Sparks says that bear resistant bins were tested in a wildlife park and it took about 30 minutes to enter it.

“It’s not a perfect solution,” he said. “(But) 30 minutes of a bear who works there, probably you will feel it, or a neighbor will hear it and … ideally they will come out, scare the bear.”

Anyone wishing more information on the safety of the bear can visit WildsaFebc. Kamloops residents can request a bear resistant basket The city website.