As the weather begins warms up, and PG residents start to enjoy the outdoors, some of the fur-covered PG residents may be out as well.
“The best thing to do is secure all attractants, and that will help not bring the bears into the city in the first place,” said Prince George Conservation Officer Hilary Desmarais.
“Attractants can be anything from garbage, to pet food, to barbeques, to bird feeders, fruit trees, all of those things will bring bears into the city, because that’s a lot easier for them.”
Over the past five years, there has been a steady incline in the number of bear related calls to conservation officers during the spring (April-June) in Prince George, plus a spike in 2020.
- 2017 – 179
- 2018 – 186
- 2019 – 247
- 2020 – 419
- 2021 – 290
“If you are seeing a bear, the best thing to do is to make it know it’s not comfortable in the area,” Desmarais said.
“If you have an airhorn you can use the airhorn, to scare it away, or even bang some pots and pans together, set of your car alarm, anything like that.”
Desmarais added that now that the weather is getting warmer, deer and moose may be more common as well.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
