As Canmore grapples with opportunistic bears searching for food in busy residential neighbourhoods, a program has been launched in the Banff townsite to get rid of crabapple trees to keep hungry bears out of town.
On Monday (Sept. 14), Banff town council agreed to put $6,000 towards a voluntary crabapple tree removal program for private property owners in town. Parks Canada is kicking in another $15,000.
Officials say crabapple trees lure bears into the national park townsite, and although there have been no reports of bears feeding on fruit so far this year, it has been an ongoing issue for many years, with two bears last year feasting on fruit trees.
“Safety and security for both people and for wildlife is a top priority for Parks Canada and we know that non-native fruit trees represent an irresistible attractant for bears and other wildlife,” said David Gummer, a Parks Canada wildlife ecologist for Banff National Park.
“This is a really great opportunity for Parks Canada to collaborate with the Town of Banff in a voluntary program to address these fruit trees and to try to reduce the hazard associated with them.”
The $21,000 in funding will allow approximately 25 property owners to apply to the Town of Banff to have their crabapple trees removed by the Town of Banff’s grounds department or contractor.
The fruit trees will be replaced with native trees to Banff National Park that do not attract potentially dangerous animals such as bears and elk to town. The owner would get to choose a tree from a list of approved species.
There will be no costs to the property owner to remove and replace trees.
Chad Townsend, the Town of Banff’s environmental coordinator, said letters would be sent to property owners known to have fruit trees, inviting them to take part in the voluntary incentive program.
“We’ll look up property owners, but they may not live in Banff right now, so we may be sending a letter off to Switzerland or whatever,” he said.
“We know we have a fairly complete inventory, so we can mail out letters right away and put this offer out there. We hope people come forward.”
Crabapple trees and other fruit trees are scattered throughout town, including at The Banff Centre and various residential neighbourhoods. Parks Canada removed fruit trees from the grounds of the park administration building and superintendent’s residence in 2013.
Townsend said the municipality has implemented many initiatives to remove attractants to bears, such as securing residential garbage in large metal bear-proof bins and commercial waste within enclosures.
But, he said, further improvements can be made to ensure public safety and to reduce the chance bears need to be relocated or destroyed.
“We still have this problem with fruit trees,” said Townsend. “We’ve been lucky so far in Banff this year, but this time last year we were talking about a bear attracted in by pin cherry trees, so this is timely.”
Should the voluntary incentive program be unsuccessful in removing and replacing crabapple trees, Townsend said council could consider a future bylaw amendment to ensure crabapples are at least harvested each year, if not removed and replaced.
“We might look at the next step in future years,” he said. “We started with education to a voluntary incentive program and then consider where we go from here based on how many come forward to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Last year, a female black bear known as 1401, as well as sub-adult female grizzly bear 148, both raided ripening fruit trees inside the Banff townsite.
Bear 1401 had to be euthanized after a capturing procedure accidentally went wrong, leaving her paralyzed when a tranquiller dart hit her spine. Despite efforts, she did not recover and wildlife experts were forced to put her down.
Parks Canada was trying to relocate her out of town before the busy 2014 September Labour Day long weekend, planning to mount an extensive aversive conditioning program when she inevitably came back.
At one point, the bruin was up a tree, only metres away from a balcony where children were playing at Whiskey Creek condos. The bear also made it onto the roof of one of the three-storey buildings there. She also climbed a tree near a bus stop on Banff Avenue opposite the Fox hotel.
Gummer said there have been no reports of bears feeding on fruit trees so far this year in Banff, but there are a number of black bears and grizzly bears around the periphery of the townsite, campgrounds and day use areas.
“We’re really fortunate thus far we haven’t had any occurrences like that, but it could happen anytime,” he said.
“We want to encourage residents and tree owners to make sure if they do have fruit in their trees, that they remove them as soon as possible.”
Gummer said with the colder temperatures and snow at higher elevations, bears are travelling widely in search of food to prepare for hibernation.
“There is food out there, but it’s not a particularly great year for berries, so they may be especially vulnerable to unnatural attractants like the fruit trees,” he said.
Town councillor Ted Christensen said he did not have any problem with the cost of the incentive program, but was interested in investigating a way of harvesting the crabapples as opposed to cutting down trees.
“I don’t see if there hasn’t been a problem with bears where the concern is,” he said. “I think it deserves a little more exploration before just going out and cutting them down.”
Gummer said cutting trees down was the more effective than picking the fruit.
“Really, the problem is harvesting. These trees can be really productive and it can be an immense job to harvest them effectively,” he said.
“Leaving them is really just deferring the issue to future decades and future generations.”
In neighbouring Canmore, another black bear has been relocated from the area, bringing to 14 the number of black bears removed from the Bow Valley between Harvie Heights and Lac Des Arcs so far this year.
A provincial government spokesman said a five-year-old male black bear was caught in a culvert trap Sept. 9 in the Cougar Creek area after being repeatedly seen in the busy and highly populated neighbourhood. It was relocated about 20-km southeast of Canmore.
Brendan Cox, an Edmonton-based spokesman for Fish and Wildlife, said there have been numerous calls about different bears about the Cougar Creek area.
“It’s the same scenario of getting into crabapples, so we’re really encouraging people to consider removing those trees or at the very least picking up all fruit,” he said. “The onus must be on residents to clean up their attractants.”
Cox said the number of relocated bears relocated from this area so far this year is high, though not unheard of. In 2012, 19 bears were moved out of the area, while in 2007, 17 bruins were relocated.
He said it is not always possible for fish and wildlife officers to do aversive conditioning – a program where bear dogs, noisemakers and various other non-lethal projectiles are used to scare bears out of developed areas.
“Officers are responding directly to public complaints, and a lot of the time when they attend the scene, it’s not immediately known where the bear is, and if they can’t find it right away, a better option is often to leave a trap,” he said.
“In other situations when officers arrive at the scene and the bear is still there, or someone knows where it is, they are able to locate it and they do aversive conditioning. In some of these 14, aversive conditioning was attempted but they just circled right back into town,” he added.
“I wouldn’t say relocation is the go-to option, but unfortunately the attractant level in Canmore is so strong the bears have continued to come in. If it wasn’t for the crabapples, these bears would be easier to condition to stay away from urban areas.”
Bear sightings in Canmore can be phoned in to 403-591-7755, while sightings in Banff can be reported to 403-762-1470.
