Officials in Campbell River say bear interactions are on the rise and they're reminding the public to stay vigilant and do their part to ensure the animals' safety – and their own.
Campbell River RCMP Cpl. Ron Vlooswik says in the past four weeks, members of the detachment have been receiving daily calls about animals in and around the city, with many of them being about the actions of bears within city limits.
“The bears are being attracted by the garbage that people are leaving out in their yards or their barbecues, bird feeders, rotten fruit, whatever the case may be,” Vlooswik says.
He says the public still doesn’t appear to be getting the message about the dangers of not being “Bear Aware.”
“It’s a big education thing right? Keep your garbage inside your garage," he says. "You can’t be attracting bears because attracting bears to garbage is going to cause safety problems for us in neighbourhoods and in school yards."
Vlooswik says the RCMP and BC Conservation Service officers work closely together, but the decision of whether or not to charge individuals for attracting the bears comes from conservation.
A recent photo posted to Facebook appears to demonstrate exactly how close bears are getting to residential areas.
Lisa Hunchak snapped a photo of a black bear perched on a fence at a home on Maryland Road.
The bear was reportedly later tranquilized and relocated by conservation officers.
