The City of Kamloops wants to reduce human-bear conflicts.

Streets and Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow says they are piloting an anti-bear garbage bin.

Farrow says one of the problems is whether the city’s garbage trucks are able to pick up the bear-proof containers.

“There’s a special mechanism that locks the whole lid down, so before it would be tipped, it would need to be unlocked,” he said. “So that’s the challenge on the operation side and the practicality of using that everywhere in the community doesn’t make sense.”

“There are a few key areas where it would make sense, in those rural properties.”

Farrow says the city is working with the B.C. Conservation Service to work out any potential problems.

“What solution can we roll out now and how does that work?” he said. “Are there additional charges for those customers that want it?”

“The problem with bear containers and bears is the behaviour. If we put a bear-resistant container on one street in Juniper, the bear [might] just bounce to the next street.”

The issue what will be examined in more detail next year.