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Bears will eat anything that looks like food

Alan Trenzek, in his letter to the editor, says simply removing garbage and other attractants won't necessarily stop bears.

Editor:

In your article about the problem bear in Boitanio Park, a conservation officer said if we didn’t have attractants (e.g. garbage or fruit on trees) the bears would not bother us and just go back to the bush.

This is a simplistic assessment. If they aren’t eating our fruit and garbage, they would start eating our dogs, cats, children or adults, everything that looks like food to them.

There is an over abundance of bears. Aren’t most bears in public places two-year-olds who had been with their mother for  the last two years but have been sent away by mama bear to fend for themselves?

Bears are territorial and resist having another bear in their area so there is a battle for possession. That is why we end up with problem bears in our parks and subdivisions.

These bears have seen everything run from them for the last two years because most animals run when they see a mama bear and cub. Consequently, they have no fear of people when they end up in city settings.

A documentary on black bears in Canada, which followed radio-collared bears, found that at times in Newfoundland black bears prey on full-grown moose.

Alan Trenzek

Williams Lake