Ravenous bears with a taste for garbage - or any other kind of calorie-filled food - may be heading for your neighbourhood if you don't keep your trash under wraps.
Bears have been sighted in Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam and already two have been shot for fighting in a residential driveway.
Bears fighting in residential neighbourhoods is highly unusual conservation officers say, but it is becoming increasingly common to see black bears in yards around the Tri-Cities, especially in yards near greenbelts and ravines.
FREEZING GARBAGE HELPS
Art Zink, who has lived in his Harbour Drve home for over 50 years, said a bear family is frequenting his neighbourhood. The sow and cub have been eating grass in his yard and seeking out other food opportunities in his neighbour's yard.
Zink said he now freezes his food waste after bears tore apart the cabinet containing his garbage cans last year. "It's no problem. It's just something we have to do," Zink said.
When the bears arrived in his yard this week, he snapped a few photos and sent them to The Tri-City News in the hopes of reminding people to lock up their garbage.
"It could become a safety concern," he said, "and there are lots of little kids in the neighbourhood."
