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Hearts vs. heads on bears in Coquitlam

Coquitlam needs to change its bear aware marketing campaign and put more emphasis on targeting people’s hearts rather than their heads, according to one city councillor.
Bears
Coquitlam Coun. Terry O’Neill said he is in favour of marking the places where bears have been destroyed as a reminder to area residents to secure their garbage and animal attractants.

Coquitlam needs to change its bear aware marketing campaign and put more emphasis on targeting people’s hearts rather than their heads, according to one city councillor.

Terry O’Neill said he is in favour of marking the places where bears have been destroyed as a reminder to area residents to secure their garbage and animal attractants.

He would also like to see neighbourhoods that have had a good track record of reducing bear-human conflicts rewarded for their efforts.

“We should do more than just ramp up what we have done before,” he told The Tri-City News, adding that the idea for the markers came out of discussion at the sustainability and environment advisory committee, which he chairs.

The “fact-filled information” currently distributed by the city, which outlines rules, fines and garbage collection dates, does not seem to be gaining much traction because “we’ve been aiming for the head,” O’Neill said. 

“We need to think of new and innovative measures to touch people’s hearts so we can change their minds.”

Fifteen bears were killed in Coquitlam last year after becoming habituated to human food sources, usually garbage. The city received 1,380 service requests related to wildlife — a 154% increase over the previous year — with 307 calls involving bears and 492 involving garbage.

As a result of the increase in bear activity, bylaw enforcement ramped up, with the city issuing 300 fines and 1,600 warnings to residents with unsecured animal attractants. 

“What we have found, as soon as people get the fines, they start to pay attention,” said Jozsef Dioszeghy, the city’s general manager of engineering and public works. “That works.”

But despite the education campaigns and increased enforcement, Steffanie Warriner, the city’s manager of environmental services, acknowledged that some people are still not getting the message.

During Monday’s committee meeting, she said approximately 15% to 20% of residents are not securing their waste and animal attractants, noting “we have some work to do.”

In the future, the city will need to consider bear issues when planning new developments, particularly in green field areas, Warriner added. New projects will have to include adequate amounts of space for securing and storing garbage while landscaping strategies should avoid vegetation that attracts animals, she said. 

Coquitlam is considering other measures, including a new gravity lock system on garbage cans, which is being piloted by approximately 30 households. But a staff report said there is still some question as to how effective the locks are at deterring bears and more testing will occur at a wildlife facility in Kamloops. 

The report also noted that the city would be looking into changes to its garbage collection system to make the process more efficient. 

gmckenna@tricitynews.com

@gmckennaTC