The number of bear sightings in Quesnel is definitely on the rise this year.
That’s according to Quesnel Conservation Officer Kyle Bueckert.
“It’s been busy in the Quesnel area as far as bears go, especially recently within say the last month. We have received 196 black bear calls and 3 grizzly bear calls this year.”
Bueckert says they normally get between 100 and 150 calls in a normal year.
He says there are a couple of reasons for this.
“One of them being that there is a very poor berry year this year as far as edible berries in the bush. If you’re an avid blueberry, huckleberry picker, you know it’s been pretty difficult to find a good blueberry, huckleberry patch to grab berries. And in turn bears are struggling to find food in the bush, so we’re seeing more bears coming into town to access those easily accessible food sources.”
Bueckert says the other reason is that people unfortunately aren’t managing their bear attractants.
“That has to do with fruit trees and garbage and bird feeders and pet food and recycling and compost and anything that has a calorie associated with it that’s accessible by a bear. The CO Service strongly encourages the public, especially this time of year, to actively secure attractants and that means picking the fruit on your trees, making sure that your pet food and bird feeders are taken down, and that your garbage is properly secured somewhere where a bear can’t access it.”
Bueckert says a bear’s life revolves around calorie consumption.
“From the moment that they wake up from hibernating in their den they’re actively seeking out anything with a calorie, and this time of year is crunch time for bears where they really need to bulk up, they really need to get their fat storage in order to survive the winter. So they are on the prowl and they’re looking for anything that’s edible, and honestly anything that has a calorie associated with it a bear will get into it.”
Bueckert says a lot of bears become what’s called conflict bears.
“It’s a serious issue in Quesnel, the human-wildlife conflict with these black bears, and unfortunately each year the CO service has to kill and euthanize multiple bears, and mostly because of poor attractant management.
Bueckert says they have had to euthananize seven bears so far this year.
“We just want to make sure that we can keep that number as low as we can. Honestly, euthanizing black bears is the hardest part of my job and I hate doing it, so if I can prevent having to do that I will. It’s difficult. I became a Conservation Officer to catch poachers, and I understand that bear work is part of the job and public safety is part of our mandate, but I would rather be out in the field catching a poacher than dealing with a problem bear.”
Bueckert says fortunately we haven’t had a predator attack in Quesnel this year, although he says we have had bears bluff charging people.
He encourages the public to call the RAPP line (1-877-952-7277) if there is a bear acting aggressively or threatening or causing significant property damage.
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