Conservation officers are reminding people to properly secure their garbage after a large black bear was spotted in Saanich on Sunday.
Residents told police they saw a bear around various properties in the 3900-block of West Saanich Road and the 5800-block of Wallace Drive.
Police say the bear appeared to be comfortable around people and had been wandering through their yards all day.
Aaron Yager saw the animal on his property and says it was very brave.
“Probably about 30-feet away and it didn’t faze him, he just stood up growled at me, kept eating the garbage,” he said.
Conservation officers say bear sightings aren’t common in the area and people aren’t used to having the animals living amongst them.
“Compost and garbage are the two single biggest attractants that we deal with at this time of the year,” Peter Pauwels told CTV News.
According to Pauwells, people need to make a greater effort to co-exist with bears.
“For this particular bear it’s been in the garbage so many times now the future is not good for it,” he added. “If we capture that bear it’s not a candidate for relocation so it would have to be destroyed.”
Pauwels says habituated bears are far more dangerous than those that are afraid of people.
“Over time it could get worse and it might try to actually enter houses or break into buildings … and it’s growing and when they become habituated to people they lose their fear of people that’s when we get concerned,” Pauwels said.
Anyone who sees a bear is asked to contact the Conservation Officer Service.
