Bear experts work with urban planners as residential areas expand
Posted May 26, 2010 3:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Can housing and wildlife co-exist peacefully? Bear experts are hoping urban planners will factor in wildlife as housing and urban development expands.
Tony Webb with The North Shore Bear Network says his group, along with conservation officers have started a “bear working group” to try to get planners to keep the animals in mind, as they design housing which is spreading further into traditional bear habitat. “And we’re all trying to work together, and then the government [has] a bear aware program. We’re all trying to work together so that we can try and, sort of, keep these icons going. They’re very easy to lose.”
And Webb has a sobering reminder of what human encroachment can do. “There are only about 400 bears left in Western Europe, because of the human encroachment, basically. And that’s, of course, what we don’t want to happen here in British Columbia.”
The North Shore Bear Network is reminding people to be “bear aware” this spring as bears head into urban areas looking for food. Over the weekend, a large black bear charged at a grandfather walking with his two-year-old grandson in Maple Ridge. Thankfully, a passing cyclist screamed and scared the bear off.
Webb also reminds everyone to keep their garbage secure as it’s still the number one attraction for bears who head into urban areas.
