With the bears awakening after a long winter's sleep, the provincial government recently dished out $225,000 to B.C. communities to help prepare for their arrival.
The money will be distributed to Bear Aware programs in 22 B.C. communities. Squamish is one of four towns currently designated "Bear Smart," which holds municipalities to a higher standard of bear/human conflict resolution. This year more than 20 communities are actively pursuing the title.
Bear Aware is an educational program focused on reducing human-bear conflict in residential areas. This year's plans for Squamish's Bear Aware include creating an urban wildlife plan with a bigger emphasis on cougars and coyotes, Bear Aware co-ordinator Meg Toom said. The program will also include educational information on cougars.
"We already done two presentation and I am going to do school presentation," Toom said.
So far this year no bears have been shot in Squamish, while in 2011 one was destroyed.
In 2011-'12, B.C.'s conservation officers received approximately 37,500 calls regarding human-wildlife conflicts. Of those calls, approximately 23,800 involved bears. Over the past five years in B.C., an average of 600 black bears were destroyed each year, while 93 were relocated.
