If there is one thing the three cities — Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam — should be working together on it's addressing the issue of bears and attractants.
The problem is bears don't recognize boundaries and bear/human conflicts may very well become more frequent as bruins come into urban areas.
Climate change may be one reason they seem to be showing up in greater numbers because hotter summers may be drying up their food sources, while warmer winters may keep them awake longer.
But the cities must also recognize that with development moving into bear habitat, more bruins will be displaced.
One man who sees this is Sgt. Todd Hunter of the BC Conservation Officer Service, who is asking the cities to do more to monitor attractants and enforce bylaws.
This is not a case of downloading because the provincially-funded service can't keep up. It's about local jurisdictions taking care of their own responsibilities, he says, and we agree.
True, cities already take garbage seriously and fine people who don't lock it up, but there are still people who don't see, hear or get the message and are contravening local bylaws anyway. The problem is, once a bear has taken advantage of the situation, they come back, even if the mess is cleaned up and the food source is removed. They are looking for something that may have been missed and they often find it.
So what can be done?
Port Moody has an extremely aware population that takes its bear conflict issue seriously, Coquitlam has a wildlife coordinator and a team working on education and is doing a good job there and Port Coquitlam built a lock that can be put on bins to make them impenetrable to bears.
But the Bear Aware message needs to get out more often, to more people and in more languages with the cities following up with enforcement. The cities also need real-time data about bear complaints from the CO service.
With a targeted effort, the cities can accomplish more together than they can individually, and working with the conservation officer service, they are likely to be more successful.
