Following a record summer for bear sightings in the region, and correspondence received by the mayor and council members from a concerned citizen, council directed administration to return a report exploring options to reduce bear-human interactions, including consideration of providing incentives for fruit tree removal from private properties and other options.
Fruit trees are a known attractant for bears, and recently City bylaw reported they issued 41 tickets and 19 warnings in the past few months in relation to the wildlife attractant and garbage regulation bylaws.
4 thoughts on “City looks at providing incentives to removal fruit trees in attempt to deter bears”
This is absolutely ridiculous!!!!!! With the cost of food these days, we should be planting more fruit trees and more vegetables. This is a bad year for bears because of the fires, the heat and the drought conditions. I worry the bears won’t survive the winter as there is nothing for them to eat before hibernation. I don’t think I have never heard a more stupid concept. Shake your head people!!
What I see in the areas I have been driving through is the city chokecherry trees. The bears seem to find them to their liking, I have seen many that the bears have been in or are in. These trees are on city boulevards and had been planted years ago on the front of peoples yards. So perhaps consider these first for removal.
Its rather interesting to see the City coming up with solutions to the bear problem in Prince George. I doubt very much if they have any idea where these bears are coming from, how many there are, or why they are moving into this area. We are presently experiencing the largest influx of bears into this area than we have had in the past 40/50 years. People who have lived in one place for the past 50 years are seeing bears in their area for the first time, and not just one bear but a number of bears over a number of days. So there has been a huge increase in the numbers, and as a result a significant increase in the number of bears that have been put down. So lets think about what might be happening.
1. Huge forest fires throughout North Central BC
2. Huge clear cuts along with intensive spraying of clear cuts, killing off berries and plants.
3. Grizzly bears moving into traditional black/brown bear territory. Grizzly bears are the natural predator of black bears, and will drive them out of their territory and also kill and eat them.
4. People moving into traditional bear territory and building sub divisions, housing, etc;
5. Milder winters and a better winter survival rate of these bears, thus increasing their numbers.
Other factors could be that bears no longer have access to our dump sites. As far a I know the Foothills land fill is fully fenced by wire fencing, and very difficult if not impossible for bears to access this site, and therefore the nearest area where they can access garbage is the Regional District and the City of Prince George,s residential area’s.
With the long hot summer we just experienced we will run out of berries and other feed for these bears earlier than we normally would, meaning that bears will have a hard time finding food before they hibernate. This means that the bear population in the City will probably increase for the next month or so. If the bears hibernate without having ate sufficient food then a lot of them will not survive the winter, and by next spring there could be a significant reduction in the number of bears in this area. In any event chopping down our apple trees and other fruit trees is hardly a solution. Bears in Prince George are a result of the over all problem in North Central BC and the solution falls right into the lap of the Provincial Government, the Conservation people, the lumber industry, and all of us who continue to build in the forests rather than the city.
We now have bears strolling around parks, and school grounds looking for food and they are becoming less and less concerned about people. The City needs to take the lead on this problem and work closely with other groups, to get an immediate solution to the problem, especially considering that school starts next week.
If by fruit trees you are pointing towards apple trees, then I disagree with diposing of these trees. The bears are coming into the city because of weather patterns changing, so they do not have the amount of wild berries in the bush this year. Also we must realize the fires are also invading their homes. I agree that garbage will attract them. But the majority of the bears are in the chokecherry trees that the city themselves have planted all over Prince George. The chokecherries produced mega food for these bears. So if everyone was to take a look at this, most of the bears are in the chokecherry trees. The Saskatoon berries did not do well this year either. That is another food the bears go for. When they head into the bush they have to deal with the fires. This is also why they are on the move. People are the ones who need to adjust and be bear aware until the bears can find food away from the city. We the people are on their territory, not them on ours.