Thank you to our volunteers, the following organizations for their ongoing support: the British Columbia Conservation Foundation, Columbia Basin Trust, the City of Fernie, R.D.E.K., the District of Elkford, Fernie Alpine Resort, Wildsight, the Free Press, the Elk Valley Herald and everyone who has made efforts to bear proof their properties in order to reduce human-bear conflict throughout the Elk Valley. Have a great winter and stay tuned for more updates next spring.

 Please continue to report bear sightings and incidents to the Ministry of Environment 24-hour hotline at 1-877-952-7277.  

 Hibernation is an important survival strategy for bears in regions such as British Columbia where their main foods – green vegetation, berries, salmon and insects – are not available in winter. However, most bears do not go into hibernation in warm climates where enough food is available year-round. With only about six months to build up fat reserves for hibernation, bears must eat a great deal of food. They are particularly attracted to foods that are abundant and high in protein and energy and that they can get with little effort. During a period called hyperphagia, bears prepare for hibernation by eating three times as much in the fall as they do in the summer. In the fall, bears need up to 20,000 calories per day (about 300 apples) to gain enough weight to get through the winter. In some areas, food-conditioned bears that are used to accessing human food, such as garbage, may not hibernate at all. Bears typically hibernate for three to five months on the South Coast and for longer periods (probably five to seven months) in the Interior and the North.

Two black bears (mom and cub) were seen on a slope in the area behind Overwaitea in downtown Fernie, heading towards the Fernie Aquatic Centre at around 12pm today.

If you see them anywhere else in town please report it to the RAPP line as soon as possible – 1-877-952-7277 so we can make sure they get to a safe place to hibernate.

Elkford

A cinnamon black bear and three cubs have been seen on Alpine Drive.

Fernie

A black bear sow and two cubs have been getting into pumpkins on Cunliff Road.

Elkford

Two white black bear cubs have been seen on Natal Road.

A black bear sow and three cubs (two white cubs and one black cub) have been seen on Aspen Crescent.

Three black bears have been seen on Alpine Drive.

Fernie

A black bear sow and a cub have been seen getting into garbage by Quatrine Apartments.

November 3rd 9pm.  A mom bear and her cub were seen crossing the road from Quatrine appartments heading east towards Rotary park.

Nov 2.  Bears have been reported accessing garbage on Ridgemont Drive and Mount Proctor.  It is still bear season, expect to see bears in Fernie neighborhoods until the snow flies.  Please remember to  store garbage indoors between collection days.  Ask your neighbors to do the same.  This will result in a safer neighborhood for everyone and keep our Fernie bears wild and alive.  Thanks  )

Bear Aware is urging residents to make efforts to bring all garbage indoors, even empty cans which are know to attract bears.  On Halloween night between 6:30 and 9 pm The C.O.Service and Bear Aware will be patrolling areas with reported bear activity.  Trick or treaters, travel in groups, stay in well lit areas and make noise to warn bears of your presence to avoid surprise encounters.  Younger kids should be accompanied by an adult.  Please call in all bear sightings to the RAPP line on 1-877-952-7277 so that bear activty can be monitored and conflict prevented.

A grizzly bear sow charged the door of a residential house on 12th Avenue after getting into recycling. The sow had a this year’s cub with her.

Two small black bears have been seen by the river on the east side of Highway 3 behind the College of the Rockies.

A black bear sow and three cubs have been have been attracted by garbage on Casino Crescent.

A black bear sow and three cubs (two white cubs and one black cub) have been getting into garbage on Cariboo Drive.

Two black bear cubs have been getting into garbage on Cariboo Drive.

Keep Garbage Indoors 

Bears eating garbage in residential areas poses a threat to public safety and usually results in the bears being killed. A family of bears continues to access garbage kept outside in Elkford. Bear Aware and the District of Elkford are urging residents to make every effort possible to bring the District residential garbage bins indoors (put them in a garage or a shed so bears cant get to them). If this is not an option please consider keeping garbage inside your house (you can put the smelly stuff in the freezer) or take excess garbage to the transfer station between collection days.

Fernie

A black bear has been reported on Cokato Road.

A black bear has been getting into garbage on Hoath Street.

A brown-coloured black bear has been getting into an apple tree and reported in residential yards on Ridgemont Crescent.

A black bear has been seen in a residential yard on Dicken Road.

Elkford

Three black bear cubs (two white cubs and one black cub) have been seen on Galbraith Drive and in the woods near Bare Hill.

A white-coloured black bear has been seen on Alpine Drive.

A white-coloured bear has been attracted by a barbeque on Carling Place.

A bear has been reported getting into garbage on Delta Crescent.

October 20.  A family of bears continues to access garbage kept outside on Alpine Way and Caribou Drive in Elkford.  Bear Aware and the Distrcit of Elkford are urging residents to make every effort possible to bring the distrcit residential garbage bins indoors (put them in a garage or a shed so bears cant get to them).  If this is not an option please consider keeping garbage inside your house (you can put the smelly stuff in the freezer) or take excess garbage to the transfer station between collection days.

Be alert when travelling in bear country especially this time of year.  Look for signs of bear activity, scat, tracks.., make noise to warn bears of yor presence, travel in groups.  Bears have been seen on the Dike trail between the Quatrine Appts and the Leroux Mansion in Fernie and  on Ecoterrorist and Whats up Doc bike trails.   If you find evidence of bear activity in your neighborhood ask yourself why the bear was there?  In this case it is evident that this bear had been feeding on apples in someone’s yard.  Did you know that a hungry bear can eat up to 300 apples in one day?

Oct 18  A family of bears has been repeatedley accessing unsecred garbage on Tofino Crescent and Caribou drive in Elkford. Please store your garbage indooors so that these bears  have a chance to stay alive until hibernation (sometime in November) and the community remains safe for people and bears.

Oct 18.  A large bear has been seen hanging around in the wooded area behind Elkview Drive in Fernie.  This bear has not caused any problems and it would be great to keep it that way.   Take extra caution if stepping outside your house at night, a quick shout to warn bears of your presence could prevent a surprise encounter with a bear. 

 A reminder to all Fernie residents to please take a moment out of your day and make sure that your garbage is either locked up in a shed or garage, kept in your basement or taken to the transfer station.  If you have apple trees, clean them up and secure all other attractants.  We expect to have bears in the area until mid November.  Please be vigilant until then.  Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Oct 17.  Bears have been reported accessing garbage and fruit trees on Mount Minton Avenue in the Airport subdivision and on 6th Avenue in Fernie.

While working on a project mapping bear attractants as part of the City of Fernie Bear Hazard Assessement I found more than 300 properties with apple trees in Fernie.  Owning an apple tree in Bear Country is a huge responsibility.  Garbage and apple trees are the root causes of human/bear conflict in the Elk Valley.  Remove fallen fruit from the ground and pick  fruit daily as it ripens.  If you dont intend on using the fruit, strip your trees and take unwanted fruit to the transfer station.

Tri Cities Mayors Moore and Stewart team up to spread the word about how best to keep Mayors…er Bears out of your backyard on this hilarious youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnAKnz13G38

An article about the white bear cubs in Elkford, written by Bear Aware volunteer Rebecca Edwards, was published in the Calgary Herald. Read the full article here.

In 2004, a white bear cub named Maskwa was born in Manitoba, and people flocked to see, feed, and photograph the little white bear and her mother. Unfortunately, the mother bear was killed by a car, and Maskwa ended up in a zoo. This tragic story is a reminder to keep our bears wild by storing garbage and all other attractants indoors to prevent bears from becoming habituated and human food conditioned. Let’s work together as a community to ensure that the white cubs in Elkford stay wild and do not meet a tragic fate.

Read the full story of Maskwa here.

During a routine visit of areas with high bear activity I was shocked to find next to a bear resisitant dumpster, a shopping trolley with garbage.  The dike trail is 50 metres away on one side and bears pass by there all the time and then an appartment building on the other.    Really, is it that difficult to open the lid and place the garbage inside?  I also found used furniture next to it.  Please, we have chosen to live in bear country, it is up to all of us to dispose of garbage and unwanted items responsibly.  This small effort will result in a safer community and help prevent creating garbage bears that could potentially pose a threat to public safety and then end up having to be killed.

A mom bear had to be destroyed in Coquitlam and her cubs were trapped in a dumpster!  Another example of how garbage kills a family of bears  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/12/bc-bear-cubs-dumpster.html