BC bear calls bounce this spring: Chilly, moist climate has them out, about

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Statistics from B.C.’s Conservation Officer Service (COS) present that this yr’s lengthy, chilly spring didn’t simply have an effect on individuals.

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It affected bears, too.

The variety of calls made to the COS about probably drawback bears rose sharply in April in comparison with earlier years. The identical is true of March and February.

Bear biologist Wayne McCrory blames the rise on the chilly, moist spring the province has endured till the Might lengthy weekend.

“Due to the excessive snowfall and the excessive quantity of residual snow that has not melted due to the extended spring, what’s occurring with the bears is that once they come out of their dens, they’re nonetheless seeing snow, which implies they need to journey right down to decrease elevations the place people are to search out meals,” McCrory stated.

He added that the place he lives within the Kootenays, the consequence is that sightings of grizzly in addition to black bears in farmers’ fields and different semi-rural areas have elevated considerably this spring.

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“As a result of there’s nonetheless a lot snow of their pure foraging areas, they’re crowding down into farms and even residential areas way more than they usually would,” McCrory stated.

COS figures present that residents made 935 calls to conservation officers in April 2022 in comparison with 665 in 2021 and 624 in 2020. Officers attended 133 of these calls and 23 bears had been destroyed. That compares to 85 attended calls and 18 bears destroyed in 2021 and 103 attended calls and 14 bears destroyed in 2020.

In March, 241 calls had been made to the COS in comparison with 183 in 2021 and 101 in 2020. Thirty-five of these calls had been attended and 10 bears had been killed. That compares to 21 attended calls and three bears killed in 2021 and 19 attended calls and two bears killed in 2020.

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February’s stats confirmed an identical sample.

Regionally, Grouse Mountain’s resident grizzly bears, Grinder and Coola, waited till April 28 to lastly emerge from their purpose-built den after 171 days asleep, their longest sleep on report. And once they did, it was to piles of snow.

As a result of the Grouse grizzlies are fed by workers on the Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife, the snow is merely a curiosity — one thing to get pleasure from. However wild bears that need to forage for meals aren’t almost as fortunate, says McCrory.

And North Shore black bears have it significantly laborious, he says, as a result of the forest is especially second-growth, which means the pickings are slim to start with. “It’s primarily grasses and sedges, and lots of of them will nonetheless be lined by snow.”

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Christine Miller, co-chair of the B.C. Bear Alliance, a corporation that advocates for the safety of all wildlife however principally bears, says extra bears are additionally being noticed decrease down within the Whistler/Squamish space. She added that the berries lots of them feed on at the moment of yr haven’t had an opportunity to ripen at increased ranges due to the chilly spring.

For her, the COS figures illustrate how essential it’s for individuals who dwell in and go to the North Shore and Fraser Valley to guard bears by not attracting them with meals.

“It’s very, essential that there be no unnatural meals out there to bears once they come near residential areas,” Miller stated. “And that’s significantly true this yr. That features rubbish, organics, pet meals, hen seed and barbecue grease catchers.”

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As soon as bears turn out to be accustomed to such meals, she warns, they’re deemed drawback bears by conservation officers who might kill them.

Former Vancouver Solar staffer Nicholas Learn’s newest books are A Dwelling Away From Dwelling: True Tales of Wild Animal Sanctuaries and Caring for Critters: One 12 months at a Wildlife Rescue Centre.

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