Each year dozens of bears are destroyed when they become habituated to coming into Prince George to forage for food in garbage cans, bird feeders and from fruit trees.
Each year hundreds of people call about nuisance bears in their neighbourhoods and human-bear conflicts continue to be an issue in the community.
Conservation officer Gary Van Spengen said simply removing those items that attract bears will go a long way to reducing the number of interactions and make the city safer for human and animal alike.
"If they don't receive a food reward, they're not going to go into such a foreign environment," Van Spengen said.
So far this spring there have been two confirmed reports of bears in Prince George, one in College Heights and the other in the Wilson Park area off Ospika Blvd. This time of year Van Spengen said bears are most likely after the high-calorie food they can find sifting through people's garbage or going after easy-to-reach bird feeders.
"The city garbage containers are not bear-proof," Van Spengen said. "Garbage has to kept in a shed or a garage, someplace where it's inaccessible to bears. Having it in the garbage can beside the house, not only will it attract bears in but under the Wildlife Act it's also illegal to leave attractants out where dangerous wildlife have access to it."
He also recommended removing bird feeders or moving them to areas where bears can't get at them.
Conversation officers will be stepping up enforcement this year and when necessary handing out violation tickets to people who aren't abiding by the rules and who continue to leave bear attractants in the open.
"The number one thing that we're trying to do is prevention," he said. "If people don't want to attract bears into their neighbourhood it's very simple."
Later in the year fruit tress become an issue as bears see the ripe fruit as an easy meal. Van Spengen said tree owners should remove all fruit promptly and if they don't use the fruit should consider replacing the tree with another variety - especially if they live in a high-bear area.
While garbage is the top concern, household compost also attract hungry bears. Van Spengen recommends against putting whole fruits or vegetables into the compost, instead people should only put things like carrot tops or other leftovers.
"If they're edible to us, they're edible to bears as well," he said.
Van Spengen also recommends turning the compost often and adding some lime to the mix to make it less attractive to bears.
College Heights, the Hart and parts of Cranbrook Hill tend to have the most bear complaints, but Van Spengen said every part of the city has had bear complaints over the years. Last year conservation officers received 1,200 calls and had to destroy 30 bears, down slightly from the 40 bears euthanized during a typical season.
"When we do set a trap out, those bears aren't trans-located, those bears are destroyed," Van Spengen said. "Those bears have gone through the food conditioning human habituation process where they associate us with food and then start getting used to being around people and the residential neighbourhoods."
To report a bear residents should call the report all poachers and polluters office at 1-877-952-7277.
