The Conservation Officer Service in Quesnel is reporting a much quieter year when it comes to black bears.
Kyle Bueckert says complaints are way down.
“That is likely due to the amount of food available this year compared to last year, natural foods for black bears. That being said we always have bears accessing unnatural attractants like garbage and other sources in the community, so we always encourage the public and ask the public to properly secure garbage and pick fruit in a timely manner.”
Bueckert says they also haven’t had any reports about the grizzly bears that was seen last year in Johnston Subdivision.
Despite the reduced numbers and complaints though, Bueckert says they have still had to unfortunately destroy five bears.
“Destroying a bear is the very last step in the process for the CO service. We want to see the public do everything that they can to properly secure attractants to mitigate us having to action a bear in that way. So that means putting your garbage in your garage, picking your fruit in a timely manner, securing anything and everything that a bear might get into. We want to see that happen prior to destroying a bear.”
Bueckert says for the most part Quesnel residents have been doing that.
