If you've been reading The Eagle in recent months, you've probably come across a few of reporter Howard May's stories about local bear encounters in Cochrane and Bragg Creek.
As May's reporting has shown, there's been a noticeable uptick in the amount of bear-human sightings reported in Cochrane and region this year.
Scientists argue one of the main reasons for the increase is the hot and dry summer that Alberta experienced. The unfavourable conditions meant a poor growing season for buffaloberries – a popular food source for black bears. Unable to find one of their most common sources of calories in their own habitats, many bears have ventured into towns and urban centres in search of food, where they often become habituated to attractants like left-out garbage.
That habituation to urban environments can often have unfortunate outcomes, as Cochranites learned in mid-October, when a black bear was euthanized by Alberta Fish and Wildlife officials after getting into some human garbage.
Whenever one of May's stories about bears is posted this year, many commentors on our website and social media channels are outraged that Conservation Officers were so quick to euthanize a bear instead of employing other strategies, such as relocation and rehabilitation.
Government agencies typically argue that relocation is rarely a successful method of dealing with habituated bears. Studies, such as a 1994 joint effort between the federal and British Columbia governments, indicated that bears don't fare particularly well in unfamiliar territory.
The debate of how best to handle habituated bears is complex, and one officials continue to grapple with.
In the meantime, the real solution should be to stop those interactions from happening in the first place. Considering how close Cochrane is to bear country, it's imperative that we learn to live in a way that dissuades bears from venturing into town. These strategies can be as simple as storing garbage in bear-resistant and odour-proof containers and removing other possible attractants, such as fruit from fruit trees or pet food.
Let's all be more bear-aware.
