B.C. and Yukon compare notes on bear safety

Two wildlife experts from B.C. say thatprovince's experience with bear control couldhelp Yukon.

The two met with representatives from municipalities and First Nations on Thursday in Whitehorse, asYukon has seen an increase in the number ofbears killed in recent years.

Mike Badry works with the BC Parks and Conservation Officer Service divisionand is responsible for the province's Wildlife-Human Conflict Prevention Strategy.

He says the number of bears killed by conservation officers in B.C. has been reduced by about half since the 1990s.

The conservation service records bear encounters and euthanizations by fiscal year from April to April.

The numberof black bears put down by conservation officers ranged fromabout 700 to 1,600 animals per year in the 1990s.

In 2014-2015, B.C.conservation officers killed 564 blackbears.The next year, the number was497.

The total number for the 2017-2018 fiscal year was 487.

So far this year,with numbers not yet published for March,the tally is370 black bears killedby conservation officers across the province,which would be an especially low year.

Badry says some fluctuation in the numbers from year to year is natural, but he creditsprograms such as the British Columbia Conservation Foundation'sWildSafeBCand Bear Smartinitiatives. In 2002, B.C's Ministry of Environment began the Bear Smart Community Program which focuses on education and working to certify municipalitiesas Bear Smart.

"We have seen a trend of fewer bears being destroyed, in the long term over the last15 years since we began this program. We hope to see that continue. There's lots of factors that contribute to the level of conflict the big one is just the availability of natural food to bears so those those levels fluctuate year to year. But over the long term we are seeing a reduction," Badry said.

Workshop in Whitehorse discusses bins, garbage and more

Vanessa Isnardy, provincial coordinator for WildSafeBC, was also meeting municipal and First Nations' representatives Thursday in Whitehorse.

She says public education in B.C. has focused on reducing attractants and thatdoesn't only mean household waste.

"You know, restaurants have grease barrels or compost or livestock or even bird feeders all of these are all attractions for bears."

One techniquewhich has been used with municipalities' support in parts of B.C. is to leave little notes on people's garbage if bins areleft out the night before pickup. The notesinform people that waste left outdoors can attract bears.

"We do notice that when people get that warning sticker, it starts to connect the dots, and we're seeing some impact and some changes," Isnardysaid.

Bear encounters should be expected year-round

Thursday'ssession, which wasn't open to media, happeneda day after Yukon's chief coroner released a series of recommendations relating to a 2018 grizzly attack which killed a womanand her infant daughter.

The coroner's report acknowledges the mothercould not have reasonably been expected to do anything to prevent what was a sudden andunusualpredatory attack. But the report does make some recommendations to the Yukon government onpublic education efforts.

One recommendation is to highlight the fact that bears can be encountered year-round.

Badry agrees and says that's been the experience in B.C., though the context there is often far more urban than in Yukon.

"In southern parts of the province bears can be active all year round. And so we want to make sure that people remain vigilant," he said.