The Whistler Bear Working Group's (WBWG) mandate is to minimize human/bear conflicts in the Resort Municipality of Whistler. The purpose of the WBWG is to:

• Develop new community based solutions for minimizing human/bear conflicts and prepare implementation plans for delivery;
• Provide a forum for sharing information, resolving divergent views, and enabling coordinated responses to requests for information;
• Participate in the development and implementation of evaluations to determine the effectiveness of non-lethal bear management techniques and provide feedback to WBWG partners;
• Provide a coordinated approach to community outreach and communications regarding the activities of the WBWG.

This study's objectives were to determine Whistler residents' present level of awareness and knowledge abut bears, their intentions to obtain more information, their attitudes towards bears, and their beliefs regarding bear management options. This information will help direct the design and implementation of effective education and resource programs targeted to Whistler residents and visitors.

The Whistler Bear Working Group commissioned The Custom Fit Communications Group to conduct a telephone survey, and to establish benchmark levels for black bear awareness, attitudes and knowledge. Custom Fit Communications conducted 182 telephone surveys in July 2004. The findings of the survey are summarized below.

• Awareness. Virtually all Whistler residents (permanent and part-time) are aware that black bears are present in Whistler. Their perception regarding increases or decreases of the Whistler bear population varied.
• Personal Encounters. Eighty-seven percent of residents have had a personal encounter with a bear.
• Emotions. For the average resident, being aware that bears are present and seeing them from a distance brings on feelings of delight. However, when the bear enters the resident's property, the feelings shift towards fear. The emotions evoked vary though by population segment. Three distinct emotion groups emerge based on how the residents feel in different hypothetical scenarios involving black bears.
  1. Fearful Residents. A third of the residents are quite fearful of bears. This group is more often older, includes more females than males, is least active when it comes to summer outdoor activities, and has the weakest present knowledge about bears and bear behavior.
  2. Indifferent Residents. The largest group, which consisted of 50% of the residents surveyed, is fairly neutral and somewhat passive when it comes to their intentions on improving their knowledge about bears in the near future.
  3. Delighted Residents. Twenty-one percent of the residents are "pro-bear" and feel delighted with bears in the environment, and for many in this group a bear is only too close if a bear enters their home.
• Attitudes. Whistler residents typically have a very positive attitude regarding black bears. In particular, Whistler residents agree that bears bring additional aesthetic value to the area, and that they have a moral obligation to preserve bears for future generations. Some economic value is also seen in the form of increased tourism revenue. Almost 40% of residents would be willing to pay more in property and waste management costs to ensure preserving bears in the area.
• Knowledge. Presently residents feel that they have excellent knowledge about how to dispose garbage in a bear proof manner. They do not feel they know as much about bear behavior or how to behave in proximity of a bear.
• Intentions. Residents are interested in how to manage the bear population without killing bears. Two things that residents would most like to learn is:
  1. what to do when a bear enters their property (crossing the "too close for comfort" line for most residents)
  2. the right time to call for outside help if a bear is on their property.
• Bear Management. Preventative methods (waste management, reducing back yard attractants) are believed to be most effective bear management methods. Residents support fines to enforce this. Residents also believe in the power of education for preventative purposes to teach/learn:
  1. what behavior to expect from a bear and
  2. how to behave when encountering bears in their own back yard, in the neighborhood, or in the front or back country.

Download the full report.