Several wildlife incidents this week illustrate very clearly that we humans do, indeed, share this valley with wildlife.
In Banff, a pair of wolves took down a deer within the town boundary on Aug. 11, a black bear was killed on the CP tracks on Aug. 12 and a black bear was darted and she and her cubs relocated away from Canmore on Tuesday (Aug. 18).
Two of these situation were human-caused, obviously. The bear killed on the tracks adds to the growing death toll over the years and we can’t wait to see findings from a $1 million Parks/CP Rail study into reducing bear mortality on those ribbons of steel.
In the case of the Canmore bears, fresh apples proved to be way too tempting. The bear and her cubs crossed the Bow River, twice, to visit a couple of yards that still sport apple trees – despite annual pleas from wildlife managers to remove fruit before it proves to be an attractant.
Seriously, if you were a bear, would you rather dig up an anthill or roots and down them with a side of soil – or have a real old pigout on sweet, juicy apples?
This bear and her cubs are now in jeopardy in having been relocated. Often, when bears are relocated they are simply placed within the territory of another bear and dire consequences are the result.
At some point, we feel, and despite the feelings of many homeowners that they should be able to do what they want in their yard, the Town of Canmore will likely have to ban fruit-bearing trees within the town limits. This could be coupled with a replacement tree plan of some sort; with the end result being much diminished human/wildlife conflicts.
When you see our front page photo of the female black bear near the Engine Bridge in Canmore, prior to being darted and relocated, what really stands out is that the bear and her cubs were found in an area of very popular trails.
Many, many trail users use those trails during spring, summer and fall, and it’s not difficult to imagine a hiker, runner, cyclist, etc. having a very negative interaction with a bear that felt it needed to protect a valuable food source like free apples.
We doubt many people these days need fruit trees for sustenance, so through a town removal bylaw coupled with a tree swap, these attractant issues could be greatly reduced.
In the past, the Town did the right thing in embracing bearproof bins as a means of reducing attractants, fruit trees may be the next target.
In the case of the wolves in Banff, we do wonder that quick warnings didn’t appear to be issued. While Parks had little information on the incident for media outlets, we’d hope that wildlife managers removed the deer carcass quickly enough that human/wildlife incidents were no cause for concern.
And speaking of human/wildlife incidents, Outlook staff couldn’t help but notice off-leash dogs at Quarry Lake as an Xterra triathlon/duathlon event took place, Saturday (Aug. 15).
Much like dog owners who had their pets with them at the race in the Quarry Lake park area (in an area where dogs are not allowed), it’s clear many dog owners in this valley are possessed of a disappointing sense of entitlement when it comes to their dogs and keeping them leashed or out of areas posted as off limits.
