The Bow Valley has a relatively young history and that includes interactions between humans and wildlife.
The evolution of our relationship with the many species that also call Canmore, Banff and the surrounding Rocky Mountains home has definitely changed over time, according to longtime local Pat Kamenka.
Kamenka grew up in Canmore and has seen first hand how it has progressed. He will provide that interesting and important reminder at the next Wildsmart Bow Valley speaker series event on Tuesday night (Feb. 18) – Human Wildlife Issues: A Local’s Perspective.
“People tend to have the sense that if I’m in town I’m safe, if I’m in the bush there’s more wildlife, but the reality is we have more wildlife in town than we have in the bush. We have more elk and deer in town, which brings more cougars and we have berry bushes in town that bring more bears in,” he said. “The town is a better feeding habitat for wildlife than in the bush.”
Growing up, Kamenka said if wildlife came into Canmore it was shot, meaning the ones that survived were genetically predisposed to stay away from people. The same isn’t true now, and his talk provides an opportunity to remind everyone of what living with wildlife responsibly means.
“There have been a number of things happening – I would say government initiatives to improve safety and wildlife survivability – but we are still having difficulties with individual responsibility,” he said pointing to off-leash dogs, human attractants and not being cautious when in the woods. “What I have seen over those years is that the people getting into trouble are not so much the visitors to the area, but are the ones that have lived here and become complacent.”
Kamenka, a third generation local, said the valley is doing well, considering the population of locals and visitors on the landscape and interactions are not frequent, and his talk is a reminder of what we can do to be better.
The talk is on Tuesday night (Feb. 18) at Canmore Collegiate High School at 7 p.m.
