Bear Intrusions in Neighborhoods!

Black Bears Ruffling Through The Waste Bins
A number of people in the neighborhood of Burnaby Mountain, have sighted black bears beating around their vicinity and Rob Stocker was one of them, who saw this bear ruffling through the waste bins while walking his dog down the trail. According to B.C.’s Conservation Officer Service there were more than 150 complaints of bear sightings in Burnaby Mountain area in Burnaby, B.C. The bears were seen rummaging through the dumpsters and garbage bins, in which people leave behind scraps of food that attracts these animals.
Neighborhoods affected by the bear include of Forest Grove and Ash Grove, and day care centers and elementary schools in these areas. As a precaution, the children have been asked to have lunch indoors.

Precautions to be taken
• The Conservation Office working in association with the City of Burnaby, is to ensure that waste pick up time will be imposed.
• The bear resistant garbage dumpsters and waste dumpsters must be installed at strategic points in the neighborhood.
• These bear resistant waste dumpsters and garbage dumpsters should be secured as it is the unsecured ones that attract the bears, especially with the natural food waste.
• All residents have been asked to be responsible for their own garbage and that they should dispose them of in waste enclosures or face a fine. The fine is likely to add up to thousands of dollars if such an offence is committed multiple times and if waste food is found in the open.
In spite of such formulation of rules, it might be necessary to kill the bears who over the years have become reliant on food waste and are not likely to adapt to their natural settings any more.