The Village of Lions Bay, BC

Working towards becoming a "Bear Smart" community

Lions Bay is a small village of 530 homes situated north of Vancouver along the 'Sea-to-Sky' highway on the way to Whistler. The community is surrounded by undeveloped mountainside bear habitat, and crossed by forested corridors and creeks. Between 1999 and 2001 numerous bears became neighbourhood problems in the Lions Bay area and were destroyed. Concerned residents and the Village combined efforts to reduce bear/human conflicts and no bears have been killed here since.

Bear management practices include communication campaigns to alert residents about bears, adult and children education to teach about attractants and how to deal with bear encounters, as well as waste management bylaws. Lions Bay's Waste Management Bylaw prohibits residents from placing garbage/recycling curbside before five a.m. on pickup morning, and from allowing wildlife access to any outside stored food sources. The Village of Lions Bay is very proactive about bear management. The Bear Smart Committee includes a Councilor, Village Administrative Assistant, Volunteers and a Conservation Service Officer.  Also all public garbage bins are bear-proof. Bear Smart grants combined with Village contributions have supported numerous efforts to become a 'Bear Smart' community. A Bear Hazard Assessment was prepared in 2005 and the Human/Bear Conflict Management Plan is being adjusted to reflect current principles and practices.

In 2009 Lions Bay developed a great bear signage system.  There are permanent bear safety information signs posted at trailheads, semi-permanent signs posted during bear season notifying residents of bear activity and how to eliminate attractants, and also temporary bear warning signs with bear safety and contact information that are posted in the area for a week when bears access garbage or structures.  The Village and Bear Smart Committee are subsidizing Rollins Resistant bins for some residents with storage challenges and there is now a central bear-proof dumpster available to residents with garbage storage challenges.  Bear activity is tracked through a Bear Watch network of residents, bear reports to the Village office and reports to the COS, that are all shared to determine the best response for local bear problems.

Lions Bay's Bear Management Goals are that:

  • waste management bylaw violations are infrequent;
  • residents tolerate the movement of bears through their forested community;
  • nothing alters the bears' natural behaviour or eating habits;
  • and no negative human-bear encounters occur.


Lions Bay Bear Smart Committee

Norma Rodgers  (Chair/Bear Watch Co-captain)
ph: 604-921-8467
e:normarodgers@telus.net

Anne Page (Village Administrative Assistant)
ph: 604-921-9333

Birgitta von Krosigk (Notetaker/Bear Watch Co-Captain)

Ruth Simons (Councilor)

Chris Doyle (Conservation Officer)