Tri-Cities Bear Aware, Keeping the Community Informed and Bears Safe

Port Moody joined with Coquitlam & nine other British Columbia municipalities to become the eleventh municipality in the province to achieve the "Bear Smart" designation, on Tuesday, June 25,. To get the Bear Smart designation, municipalities must develop public policies and take measures to stop bears from being habituated to human food and other attractants.

Nancy Furness – Local Journalism Initiative

The criteria for municipalities to attain Bear Smart status include: Prepare a bear hazard assessment, make a bear–human conflict management plan Revise planning and decision-making documents, implement a continuing education plan Develop and maintain a bear-proof waste management system Approve Bear Smart bylaws.

Between 2019 - 2021 there were nineteen bears killed in the Tri-Cities. In Coquitlam there were eight bears killed during that time period though the good news is that between 2017 and 2021 there was a 99% compliance rate recorded with regard to solid waste disposal.

In Port Moody only one bear had to be put down between 2019 - 21 and from 2016 - 2021 Port Moody's infractions under the solid waste bylaw was down 82%. In Port Coquitlam ten bears had to be put down during the same time period. While Port Coquitlam is a much smaller community that Coquitlam, it is bordered by the Coquitlam and Fraser rivers and is much more susceptible to bear intrusions.

Tri-Cities Bear Aware Community Group

Nonetheless it is the only city in the region yet to achieve Bear Smart status. Carla Parr Pearson founded the Tri-Cities Bear Aware Community Group online in 2019 in response to the number of bears being killed in Port Moody and and surrounding area. The aim of the group is to reduce bear conflicts and coexist with local bears by sharing solutions, focused strategies, and increasing local knowledge of basic bear biology and habits.

She notes a source at the the University of Calgary ; "Researchers across the globe agree that when wild carnivores spend too much time around people they can become habituated and quickly loose their fear of people and when wildlife are also dependent upon human sources of food they can become food conditioned. And it is a well known, scientifically proven fact that habituated, food conditioned wild animals of many kinds are more likely to get into conflict with people and pets." Bears are most active from April to November with the peak season being from May to September but in milder climates, such as ours, they can be active all year round. First offence of bylaws in Tri-Cities $500 then each city escalates at different rates.