WildSafeBC says there are no plans to relocate three grizzly bears who have returned to Nelson.
A grizzly sow and two cubs have been frequenting the region since the beginning of August, with the initial sightings reported at Cottonwood Lake.
When the trio was reported in Mountain Station and Bealby Point, the BC Conservation Service successfully trapped and relocated them to an area within the region, following provincial regulations.
Although the exact spot the family from Nelson was placed was not disclosed, it took just five days for the three to wander back down into the city.
By Friday afternoon, WildSafeBC became aware that the bears had returned, with sightings reported again in Mountain Station and Uphill.
WildSafe and BC Conservation have been tight-lipped on plans for the bears, but WildSafe BC’s community coordinator Lisa Thomson told Vista Radio there will not be any attempts to relocate them again.
Instead, she says it’s up to the community to decide on the fate of the three and is urging residents to remove all attractants from their yards until the bears move on for the winter.
Ideally, families will move on up the mountains to their denning sites when the weather gets colder, but to avoid conflict, extra measures are critical to ensure attractants are eliminated from yards in the city, Thomson said.
While the three are frequenting the area, residents are asked to ensure all fallen fruit and nuts from trees are picked up daily, to deal with wet household waste accordingly and not to set garbage outside until the morning of weekly curbside pickup. Pumpkin carving plans may also need to be put on hold until the family moves on, recommended Thomson.
The conservation team is monitoring the bear’s travels with the radio collar on the sow and are hoping for a happy ending which would have the bears leaving the area naturally without any harmful human contact, she added.
Right now, bears are preparing for winter denning. The process requires a daily calorie intake of 20,000, according to Thomson. Because Nelson has an abundance of appealing food sources, such as fruit trees and garbage, bears often wander into the city during the fall although it is rare to see grizzlies in an urban setting.
It hasn’t been confirmed why the West Kootenay has seen an increase of grizzly activity this year, but mayor Janice Morrison said some could speculate that it has to do with habitat disruption.
“The question is whether habitat disruption caused the bears to have to come into town to look for other food sources. It’s a question we don’t have the answers for and it’s definitely outside the jurisdiction of the City of Nelson.”
It’s not the first report of a grizzly family within municipal limits this month: comments on social media have identified a second trio of grizzlies wandering downtown Salmo, which Thomson confirmed is a different family than Nelson’s.
The family in Salmo does not have ear tags or a radio collar on the sow, but the trio in Nelson does. Thomson said all three had ear tags applied while they were under sedation, and the sow has a radio collar.
