The City of Kamloops will consider creating an urban wildlife management plan next year.
Environment Services Supervisor Allan Michener says city has been reactive on wildlife encounters, and could be more proactive if a formal plan is in place.
He says there’s been an increase in bear, deer and rattlesnake encounters.
“As many of us are well aware, the recent wildfire season for 2021 has really had an impact on the number of wildlife concerns that have been reported throughout the community. This is not isolated to Kamloops, but a common theme we’re seeing across the province. And with the ongoing challenges of climate change, we’re expecting these type of trends just to continue into the future.”
Michener says the city is also seeing a rise in populations of geese and marmots, and says rodents have been a problem in cemeteries.
Kamloops mayor Ken Christian says he has concerns with how marmots might be impacting the dyke at McArthur Island.
“It’s in the dyke where there’s a lot of marmot infestation, and I wonder about the integrity of that infrastructure being eroded by that kind of behaviour. And maybe in the interim if we can focus some of our animal control efforts on those places, where the liabilities are the highest.”
The city says it will be working closely with other departments to address those potential concerns. Christian also reminds people not to feed marmots, as tempting as it may be.
“The other thing is the notion of bird control. And I’m wondering if we’ve been working with the Kamloops Airport, because bird strikes are a huge issue for them, and they have a program there in terms of the control of birds within the runway area, in and around the site.”
Notably, in May of 2020, a bird strike caused the CF Snowbird plane crash in Kamloops, which killed Capt. Jenn Casey.
City staff said any wildlife management changes it makes would aim to also help address wildlife issues at the Kamloops Airport and issues other neighbours have.
If approved by council in February, as a supplemental budget item, an urban wildlife management plan would be finished in the fall 2023. The plan would cost up to $75,000 to develop.
