A warning has been issued from the City of Kamloops about being more “bear aware” this spring.
The City’s Environmental Services Manager, Danielle Sparks, says they have already started go get second-hand reports from the BC Conservation Service of bears showing up in a number of neighborhoods.
“Since last year we had a drought year, so we have a lot of bears going into hibernation that didn’t get as many calories as they normally would,” noted Sparks. “They can be quite hungry this spring. We’ve had, just with our mild weather, we also had bears coming out a lot earlier.”
Sparks notes the drought conditions has gotten the bears out of their slumber earlier than normal, and also limited food in their own ‘stomping grounds.’
“Essentially when it’s good berry years, then the bears don’t come into conflict, because they have ample food supplies in their natural food sources,” noted Sparks. “It’s when those food sources are stressed or strained, that’s when they start coming more into the communities.”
Sparks says while the City of Kamloops doesn’t keep track of the number of bear sightings in the city, she says they do work closely with the BC Conservation Service, which she says has been getting more calls than usual this year.
“There are some specific areas that we do see that have forested areas that are adjacent to them [where bear sightings are up,]” noted Sparks. “We’re talking about Juniper Ridge, Valleyview, Pineview, Aberdeen, Sahali, Westsyde, Barnhartvale…all of those areas.”
Under the rules in Kamloops, home owners are not allowed to put out their recycling and garbage bins earlier than 4am on pick-up day from April 1st to November 30th.
Anyone caught breaking those rules can be fined $100 dollars.