With a record number of human-bear conflicts in April and May, provincial officials are offering reminders on how to keep yourself safe.

Provincial WildSafeBC Coordinator Vanessa Isnardy says bears are always hungry, and it’s important that they don’t become habituated to humans.

She says in over half of the cases where people were injured by bears, a dog was involved.

“I know if my dog encounters wildlife, she’s going to go chase after it. She does not have good recall. So I always use one of those retractable leashes when I’m not in an off-leash area. The rules are pretty clear, dogs should be on a leash especially if they don’t have good recall. Doing that will be good for your dog, and hopefully not bring a bear back on yourself.”

There were about 4,000 calls relating to bears encounters this past spring, and 135 bears had to be put down across the province.

Isnardy says the province is on track to see bear human encounter numbers in the same range as were recorded in 2017.

A record number of bears had to be destroyed in 2017.