One black bear has been put down and another relocated after getting into fruit trees in populated areas of the Bow Valley.
Provincial wildlife officers captured and euthanized a five-year-old female black bear on Monday (Sept. 7) after it was repeatedly seen in the busy Cougar Creek neighbourhood where it was feeding on crabapple trees.
Another black bear, a three-year-old female, was relocated from Lac Des Arcs Wednesday (Sept. 2), bringing to 13 the total number of bears moved out of the Bow Valley between Harvie Heights and Lac Des Arcs so far this year.
Provincial government officials say a decision was made to put down the black bear caught in a Cougar Creek neighbourhood because it had a history of getting into garbage and crabapples.
“This is really unfortunate. The choice was made because this bear had a history of habitation, and this was the only way to ensure it would not re-enter an urban area,” said Brendan Cox, an Edmonton-based spokesman for Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers.
“When bears start seeing urban areas as where they can get food, you really can’t change that behaviour, and for them to come into areas where there are so many people is a big public safety concern.”
The young female bruin first came to the attention of fish and wildlife officers last year when it got into garbage and crabapple trees in the Springbank area west of Calgary.
At the time, the bear was hazed away from the area with rubber bullets and noisemakers, but when it returned, a decision was made to relocate it to the Clearwater drainage. The bear recently showed up in Canmore.
“They really tried to give it a good chance,” said Cox. “There were a number of calls about this bear in Canmore during the weekend.”
On top of this year’s 13 relocated bears and one destroyed bear, there have been two other bears killed on the Trans-Canada Highway and one on the train tracks. There have been three other reported road and rail strikes, but the fate of those bears is unknown.
Cox said the latest relocation involved a bear that got into crabapple trees in Lac Des Arcs. It was moved out of the Bow Valley on Wednesday (Sept. 2) to an area to the south in Kananaskis Country.
“This one was a first-time kind of situation for this bear,” he said.
Jay Honeyman, a human wildlife conflict biologist with Alberta Parks, said there are daily reports of bears feasting on crabapple trees and other fruit and berry-producing trees, as well as regular sightings of black bears on the trails around town.
“There are bears in town at all times of the day and night and it’s happening daily,” he said. “Bears in residential areas are a public safety concern. Whether there’s kids on the street, or people hanging out laundry or someone walking their dog, people should be aware.”
Honeyman said there’s a lot of fruit and berry-producing trees in Canmore, noting bears are heading into more developed areas this year, perhaps because the berry crop was early and fairly mediocre.
“They are looking for food before they den up. They’re wanting to get as many calories into them as they can,” said Honeyman.
“The bear activity in town is related to fruit trees and other berry-producing shrubs and as long as that happens, we’re not in a good place.”
Bow Valley WildSmart is trying to work with the Town of Canmore and Alberta Parks and Environment to get an organized community group to work together on this issue inside town boundaries.
Tyler McClure, the group’s education outreach coordinator, said a volunteer group could, for example, talk to landowners with crabapple trees, help coordinate fruit picking, or help chop trees down should a homeowner chose to go that route.
“Right now, WildSmart is really trying to look at ways of handling this problem through education, without resorting to bylaws. We like to think education can be as powerful or more so than enforcement,” he said.
“If we passed a law that said no fruit trees in Canmore, the next step is that has to be enforced, and if we look at enforcement, then we have to look at staffing issues for those two organizations.”
Colleen Campbell, president of Bow Valley Naturalists, said the answer in dealing with wildlife attractants in town lies in a combination of bylaws and education.
“If you are not managing your tree in such a way that it’s attracting wildlife, then the Town should cut it down and charge you,” she said. “There also needs to be lots of education, but it has to be continuous and it just can’t be the flavour of the day.”
Campbell said she has a crabapple tree she planted on her Canmore property about 25 years ago – but she always immediately picks the fruit, and this year, friends filled seven buckets.
“I keep it very small. I keep it reachable and as soon as it’s harvestable, the whole tree is harvested,” she said.
“It’s a beautiful tree and I’m reluctant to cut mine down, but if it came to the point where I couldn’t harvest my tree or manage my tree so wildlife don’t get into it, I will cut it down.”
Campbell, who has worked as a bear researcher, said the number of bears being relocated out of the Bow Valley this year is alarming, noting their chances of survival are very slim when dropped into unfamiliar areas and another bear’s turf.
“It’s sad and it makes me cry,” she said. “Their chances on relocation are very, very poor, and especially females with cubs. Now they don’t even know who they’re defending their cubs from.”
Meanwhile, the Lac Des Arcs campground and day use area is closed. There is an abundance of berries attracting several black bears to the area.
Residents and visitors are reminded to properly store all food, garbage and other wildlife attractants, carry bear spray, have dogs on leash, and report all bear sightings to 403-591-7755. Bear sightings in neighbouring Banff National Park can be reported to 403-762-1470.
