Bear Deaths in Nelson, BC
In the spring of 2023 we completed an extensive Freedom of Information request with the BC Ministry of Environment. This request was regarding bear deaths that occurred in Nelson between January 1, 2022-December 31, 2022. There were 17 black bears killed in Nelson in 2022 (21 including outlying areas) According to these FOI results, 15 out of the 17 of these bears were deemed food-conditioned and had accessed garbage and/or fruit and nut trees. Sadly, this data makes Nelson move from 9th place to 2nd place, in the deadliest cities in BC for bears.
For comparison purposes, there were 20 black bears destroyed in Nelson in the 7 year period between 2006-2012, and 64 black bears were destroyed in Nelson in another 7 year period between 2015-2021. The amount of bears being killed in Nelson is rising drastically, and is very disproportionate to our population.
We did some research and spoke to a few bear biologists about this, and learned that bears will alter their home ranges to include areas with good food sources/poor garbage management, as bears love smorgasbords!
This increases the bear density in these areas, and not only do we end up with more bears in town than normal, these bears with calorie rich food sources have more cubs, have them more often, and teach those cubs how to also access human foods and garbage.
Consequently, by not looking after our garbage, fruit trees and other attractants, we are compounding the human-bear conflict situation, year after year. It's a vicious cycle of conflict and killing.
We are working hard to try and change this by:
Providing community outreach and education, and;
Sharing information with the city and supporting and encouraging them to work towards becoming a Bear Smart community.
Reducing human-bear conflict and resulting bear deaths will require the cooperation of residents and businesses to achieve any success. Please do your part by making sure your attractants are secure and inaccessible, and also talk to your neighbors, family and friends about this.
With bears facing increasing pressure due to climate change and loss of habitat, it is more important than ever that we practice ethical stewardship of the wildlife that share THEIR home with us.