Bear Aware British Columbia: Our Mission

Bear Aware's mission is to reduce the number of bear-human conflicts in communities through education, innovation and cooperation

We all know that people and bears are incompatible in our towns and understand that bears are easily attracted to food sources therefore, we need to take some very basic steps to prevent the bears from being drawn into conflict with us.

While we cannot prevent all conflict, there is a lot of room for improvement!

Bear Aware is about finding ways to making everyone safer in our communities. We can do better job of managing the things that attract bears, like garbage, fruit trees, compost and bird feeders, to name just a few. With an open mind and a little effort we can make our communities much more bear-proof. All we need to do is to ensure that bears are not rewarded for boldly foraging in our neighbourhoods.

Bears are ruled by their need to eat. In the fall they need about 20,000 calories every day to prepare for hibernation. That is the equivilant of about 300 apples, or 60 hamburgers, every day! A bear's natural foods include vegetation (greens, roots and berries), insects, carrion, and fish. If natural food sources fail, bears are more likely to try foraging in town. Still, if they don't find food in town they will go elsewhere.

Some people feel sorry for the bears, but letting a bear eat your plums, or a bit of dog food is not the way to help them through the winter. Bears often seem harmless at first. They keep their distance and are wary of people, but this apparent respect can disappear quickly. Bears that learn to forage in our neighbourhoods soon lose their fear of people, and may cause property damage or even injure someone. If bears are fed they are actually much more likely to be killed themselves. Why would you offer a bear food, just to have it killed down the road for accepting the offer? If we want to help bears, we have to make a few changes in our own behaviours and in our communities to make the habitat we live in less appealing to bears.

Garbage should be stored indoors, in a garage or basement. Conditioned bears will damage weaker structures to get garbage. Take garbage to the dump regularly. If you have collection service, set the garbage out on the day of collection. Try freezing pungent wastes until garbage day to combat odours.

Orchards should be kept neat. Ensure that all windfall fruit is cleaned up daily. Harvest fruit as early as possible. If you don't plan to use the fruit pick the blossoms. Remove unused fruit trees and replace them with attractive, non-bearing, native trees. Plant fruit trees close together, and enclose them in electric fencing, to prevent them from being damaged by the bears.

Compost is a great way to keep solid waste and soil nutrients out of our landfills, but it can attract bears. Compost should not smell; if it does then something is wrong. If your compost has attracted bears in the past, it likely will again in the future. Try composting kitchen waste indoors using worms. If you have a garden/orchard enclosure put your compost inside the fence. Generally prune low brush and tall grass around your yard to eliminate cover. Bears are initially less comfortable crossing open exposed areas. Brushing also increases the distance that you will be able to see, so that you are less likely to surprise (or be surprised by) a bear.

Bird Feeders also attract bears, especially in the spring. Seeds are high in calories and a very good source of energy. While feeding birds can help them survive through the winter and off-sets habitat loss, we have to balance the good we do one species with the harm we cause to another. Bears can climb to reach nearly any feeder. If yours is suspended by a metal pole, bears have been known to simply push the pole over. A feeder high up on the side of the house is likely safe from bears. Don't let seeds accumulate under your feeder or you will make the neighbourhood cats very happy. Put out your feeders after the first snowfall, once the bears are safely in their winter dens, and take them down when spring arrives.

Barbecues attract bears too, but this is easily remedied by burning off all excess residue after cooking and keeping the grill clean. Leave the barbecue on high with the lid closed while you eat your supper. Cover it with a tarp or a cover once it has cooled to prevent the food odours from being carried by the wind. This will also help to keep it looking new.

Other common attractants include pet and livestock feed. Here the only solution is to keep these items securely indoors. Beehives are very attractive as well. Though hives are often kept farther from our homes, bears can cause a lot of expensive damage. Beehives are best protected by electric fencing. Livestock may be protected by gaurdian dogs which are specifically bred and trained for this purpose.

Feeding bears, even unintentionally, is against the law in BC.