Bear SmART Raffle

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Bear Smart Tips

Indoor Composting Made Easy - Be part of the Solution

NatureMill's Automatic Compost Bin is easy to use, mixes automatically and makes compost in just 2 weeks. It uses very little energy; about 5 kwh per month. It accepts just about anything from meat and fish to dairy and can even compost pet waste, kitty litter, and cage beddings. And, there is never any unpleasant odour as there is a carbon filter inside. With no food smell; animals aren't attracted to the compost. Please help all wildlife and the environment, check it out here and read an excellent user review here.

Power of Words

Whether you're an educator, resident, scientist or wildlife officer, as someone who cares about bears, it's your responsibility to spread the bear smart word - choosing your words carefully. Words are powerful. They can influence our perceptions and affect attitudes; to inspire and encourage the right behaviour; or hinder and create apathy and inaction. Read more.

In the News

Animal Policies & the Power of your Vote

April 15, 2011. Want to know what each of the five Canadian federal political parties' positions are on animal related issues? Check out WSPA's VoteForAnimals.ca here. I think you'll agree that the Green Party of Canada has the best animal policies see here and here.

Kudos to B.C.'s Bear Aware Coordinator, Sharon Wieder and her Neighbourhood Watch for Bears

March 28, 2011. It may still feel like winter, but reports of this spring’s first bear sightings have been rolling in to Sharon Weider of Bear Aware for two weeks and, in preparation for bear season, she wants to assemble a posse of “dumpster deputies” to keep an eye on problem garbage areas. Read more.

The quandary with bears and tasers

August 3, 2010. According to the Alaska's Anchorage Police Department, "the public [is urged] to avoid zapping bears with Tasers unless life or property is in peril." The statement came after one of their off duty police officers tasered a bear [with his own taser] lured to a fish fryer at his home. Police Chief Mark Mew said that, "It could end up that this is a perfectly good tool [taser] and one that we could recommend to people, but we're not there yet."  Rick Sinnott, a retired Anchorage-area wildlife biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game, said in a published letter that "the public won't take the law on [not] feeding game seriously if police don't. He suggested that Parker fine himself $300 for negligently allowing the bear to get to human food."

January 21, 2011. A taser company states that their, "Wildlife Taser" has a range of up to 35' (10m) and it can fire three shots without reloading." However, the same article lets us know that the "United Nations... classes [tasers] as a "form of torture" because of the "acute pain" they can cause." Read more.

David Suzuki's advice on being better grizzly bear neighbours; isn't new advice

April 10, 2011. Suzuki advises that grizzlies need "grizzly bear management areas" (GBMAs) or bear parks similar to British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest that protects Spirit Bears. In 2010, hunting was the source of 87% of grizzly bear mortality in B.C. Consequently, providing protected "no hunting and no roads" GBMAs and linking corridors is the most important measure a government can take to protect grizzlies. Read Suzuki's release and full technical brief.

None of this is new. In a 1995 report "A Future for the Grizzly: British Columbia Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy" protected areas were recommended. Biologist, Wayne McCrory who worked on the long ago report recently stated that he is, "disappointed that the science-based solutions we recommended, such as new Grizzly Bear Management Areas where no hunting would be allowed, have not been adequately implemented to date. Consequently, the survival of B.C.'s grizzlies is in jeopardy."  Wayne McCrory's work with the Valhalla Wilderness Society helped establish Canada's only grizzly bear sanctuary in the Khutzeymateen Valley in 1994; co-managed by the Tsimshian Nation and the province. Recently GBMAs have been established in the Ahnuhati-Ahta Kwalate, Kimsquite-Upper Dean-Dweedsmuir, and Nass-Skeena areas. These GBMAs can be the model for more protected areas and linking corridors for grizzlies populations; only if the government chooses to act. Let's join the state of Montana and provide protection for grizzlies. Isn't that our responsibility?

BC's Allen Piche pleads guilty to feeding black bears at his Christina Lake property

March 24, 2011. Piche admitted that he's been feeding generations of black bears that visited his property. Sentencing will be this fall. The only other B.C. charge of feeding dangerous wildlife was in Whistler and resulted in a $3000 fine. Piche stated that he has plans for managing the bears when they come out of hibernation this spring and that it does not involve feeding. You can check out the report and videos here.

Wyoming officials urge caution as bears emerge from hibernation

April 5, 2011. Residents are urged to take precautions, such as carrying pepper spray on hikes, as bears emerge from hibernation.  Mark Bruscino, supervisor of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's bear-human conflict management program, informs us that the bear population has grown over the years and bears have now moved outside national parks while the number of people on the landscape in both ranching and in recreational capacities have grown - causing increased conflict. About 75 bears were killed or removed from the wild last year. He states that, "overall, bear human conflicts have to do with food availability, and the contents and distribution of food. If the berries are good, bears may be in a riparian area that flows down to a residential area and that may increase conflicts." Read more.

Bear Smart Buy of the Month

Playing Cards

We've redesigned our deck of 52 Tips on Staying Safe in Bear Country - now featuring 52 different and stunning photographs.

Play your way through bear country as you learn to live with your ursine neighbours.

Get Bear Smart playing cards are a valuable educational tool and they make an ideal gift! The cards retail for $6.99 each. Shipping costs are extra. Wholesale prices are available for stores and bear aware groups. See our Bear Smart cards here.

In this edition:

• Bear Smart Tips
• In the News
• Bear Smart Buy of the Month

“Treat the earth well.  It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.  We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.”
- Indian proverb