The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) is reminding residents, property owners, and visitors to be aware of bears in the region. If there is a potential wildlife conflict in your community, please contact the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277. This will allow Conservation Officers to assess the risk levels and work towards a safe solution for both the community and the wildlife involved.
As long as a bear is moving through a community, is not lingering, and is not interacting with people or our property, there is no conflict. There are many situations where a bear moving through the community is to be expected, such as when they are trying to access a natural food source like a fish-bearing stream, or trying to access foraging opportunities on the other side of what was once their normal home range.
When bears quit moving through the community and start using it as a foraging area for human-provided foods, then conflicts may develop. Bears that start using human-provided foods (anthropogenic foods, in the words of the biologists) can become food-conditioned. A habituated bear tolerates humans in much closer proximity than what is safe for both bears and humans. This increases the potential for a dangerous interaction between the bears and humans.
Garbage
Fruit Trees
The Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline should be used to report wildlife-human interactions where public safety may be at risk: 1-877-952-7277