If bears get into your garbage, guess what, it's your fault and you will be fined.
That's the word from B.C. Conservation Officers frustrated that Tri-City residents aren't getting the message that a fed bear is a dead bear.
After repeated visits to scofflaws who leave their garbage and other attractants out for bears to eat, local COs will now be fining people.
And those fines aren't cheap, costing $231 for an offense under the Wildlife Act.
"For the past couple of years, we've been providing education and giving warnings a try and it doesn't seem to be doing much," said conservation officer Cody Ambrose, who emphasized that COs will have a zero-tolerance approach to garbage and attractants left unsecured.
The warnings come as COs have been trying to deal with a sow and three cubs in Port Coquitlam near the Hyde Creek Recreation Centre that didn't hibernate this past winter, probably because household garbage was available to eat.
Now they've become a nuisance.
Ambrose said that last Friday three cubs were treed near Minnekhada middle school while the agitated sow ran into the woods. Efforts to tranquilize the cubs failed, but eventually the trio climbed down the tree and ran after the sow.
But they'll be back, he warned, especially if there's human food around. One homeowner whose garbage was a likely source of winter banqueting has already been fined after COs failed to convince her to be more careful with her household waste.
"We were able educate and give a warning to this resident, the CO even cleaned up her garbage, and unfortunately this year, it's the same again, [so] she was issued a fine under the Wildlife Act.
But PoCo isn't the only area of bear activity over the winter, bears have been sighted over the winter in Port Moody and Coquitlam, too, probably because human garbage was easy to come by.
Ambrose hopes people can be convinced to remove bear attractants before more bears come out of the woods.
"They are starting to wake up this week, the next few weeks will determine what the summer's going to turn into," Ambrose said.
To report a bear safety complaint (not just a sighting) contact the BC Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
