Bear Aware Kimberley

Learning to get along with wild bears

It’s not hard—and it makes the community safer

Kimberley is in bear country—no doubt about it. The area surrounding the mountain town is home to multitudes of black bears. And while the ideal way for bears and townspeople to live in peace is for bears to forage only in the forests outside of town, that isn’t always what happens.

Garbage, unpicked fruit trees, composts, dirty barbecues and pet food are major attractants to bears. And in Kimberly, like in most places, these bear attractants are readily available.

Wildsight has been actively promoting bear awareness in Kimberley for close to a decade. Our Bear Aware campaign takes a hands-on approach to reducing bear/human conflicts in the alpine city.

Each year, Kimberley Bear Aware tailors a public outreach program to meet the changing needs of the community

• Bear Aware delivers presentations to schools, businesses and community groups. These informative and engaging presentations help residents understand how to live responsibly in bear country.
• Bear Aware has had great success canvassing neighbourhoods that experience problem bear incidents. People are even more open to learn about the dangers of bear attractants when there has been a bear near their homes.
• Bear Aware organizes and provides an innovative fruit picking service. This volunteer service helps people who are unable to pick the fruit from their trees. Occasionally, this involves removing fruit trees at the request of homeowners.
• Bear Aware offers HOW-TO information about composting in bear country.
• Bear Aware undertakes Garbage Raids—marking garbage left out too long with bright yellow stickers.

Is it hard to be Bear Aware?

Adopting a bear-friendly lifestyle is not hard, but it does take a few adjustments. The first is to acknowledge that bears are wild creatures who spend most of their time foraging for food—and that the mountains around Kimberley are where they have lived for thousands of years.

The second is to survey your home and neighbourhood.

• How secure is your garbage bin? Do you leave garbage out overnight? Can you change your garbage-day habits and put your bags out in the morning? (It’s actually a Kimberley bylaw to do so.)
• How about pet food? Can you feed your pets indoors? (Bears can be lethal to pets.)
• What about your compost bin? Do you leave fruit peelings out of it? Do you cover your compost with lime? Have you considered an inside worm composter? Bear Aware has all the info you need to get started—and it’s a superior way to compost.
• And what about fruit trees? These are like giant berry bushes to bears, who can become extremely territorial about them. If you can’t keep your fruit picked, have you scheduled an appointment with the Bear Aware co-ordinator to talk about it?
• Finally, do you keep your barbecue as clean as you can? Can you bring your barbecue inside at night? There is nothing as frightening as hearing a bear on your deck in the middle of the night, trying to get into your barbecue.

Talk to your neighbours—there are many people in the community who have been Bear Aware for years. You can learn a lot from them—and maybe make a new friend.

Links to More Information

• Provincial Bear Aware Website
• City of Kimberley Waste Bylaw No. 2109
• Bear Hazard Report
• A Story From The Bear's Perspective
• Bear Aware Comic

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