GREENSTONE — The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is urging residents and businesses to reduce household and commercial bear attractants following an uptick in human-bear encounters.
The Ministry released a bulletin on Friday stating that the Geraldton area, along with other parts of Ontario, is experiencing sporadic berries, which means a decrease in natural food sources for bears and other wildlife.
“Human-bear encounters are directly related to the availability of natural foods. Given the current food situation, Geraldton is seeing an increase in reports of problem bears, which are searching for alternate food sources,” the bulletin read.
Berries are an important food source for bears fattening up for the winter according to the ministry who said that they will travel great distances to find alternate food sources when natural foods are poor or unavailable.
The province is urging residents to take care to not attract bears to their homes and neighbourhoods.
Residents can help by storing garbage in waste containers with tight-fitting lids (indoors if possible), waiting until garbage pickup day to put out garbage, putting away bird feeders for the spring (you can offer birds natural alternatives, such as flowers, nesting boxes and fresh water), cleaning food residue and grease from outdoor barbecue grills, including grease traps, after each use, keeping pet food indoors, and picking ripe fruit from trees and off the ground.
Local business are also urged to help reduce human-bear encounters by emptying garbage and grease/fat containers frequently, using bear-resistant containers, locking dumpster lids every night, avoiding stockpiling garbage or grease/fat, and cleaning garbage containers frequently and thoroughly, using a strong disinfectant to eliminate odours.
For advice on reducing bear attractants, call the Bear Wise reporting line toll-free at 1-866-514- 2327, hearing impaired (TTY) 1-705-945-7641. You will be connected directly with a live operator during bear season (April 1 to November 30.)
If a bear poses an immediate threat to public safety by exhibiting threatening or aggressive behaviour, call 911 or your local police at 1-888-310-1122.
