Its been a busy year for local Fish and Wildlife officers in Slave Lake. Wade Horton, a provincial officer here, noted a huge increase in the number of bears in and around town.
“We sat down to figure out why so few were here last year, and we were kind of concerned. The numbers seemed so low that we tried to see if there was a reason, or a pattern.”
Before they could come up with answers that satisfied them, however, mother nature seemed to solve the problem, or at least alleviated their concerns.
It turns out that bear incidents this year far outweigh previous years, leaving the experts to surmise that there is some kind of cyclical pattern, but one they have not quite wrapped their heads around. Good numbers for bears might be bad news for townsfolk though.
“Elders have said that it was a bad year for berries,” said Horton, and perhaps that makes shopping in town for dinner more appealing.
Bears have been known to eat toothpaste tubes and old milk containers. Its is their keen sense of smell that keeps them moving to food sources.
Garbage in, garbage bears out.
Perhaps due to the increasing numbers, some bears inevitably find their way to town, campsites, or workcamps. Once they get a taste for garbage they don’t let go of it easily.
“Once a garbage bear, always a garbage bear,” says Horton.
“Because our garbage is covered with human scents, bears will be drawn to people forever, after getting a taste of it.” In other words, even if all garbage is locked down, a bear that has had a taste will connect the smell of humans with a previous garbage experience.
Translocation (or moving a bear back to the bush) is less successful for garbage bears than those that are simply wandering around, or grazing near town. Between the early 70’s and mid-90’s more than 2,500 black bears were moved to remote habitats. As our population and development increases, we encroach on the bears feeding area and also create a lot of scents for the bear to be attracted to.
One thing the officers are certain of is that in busy years, more cubs are produced, so the cycle would seem to carry on for a few years.
Officers use a variety of tricks and treats when luring a bear to the “culvert traps”
Usually a combination of sardines (whose oily scent sticks on the trail) and beaver meat hung inside the trap. The bears are baited into the metal tube and when they attempt to take the bait, the gate is tripped, confining the animals inside the culvert. They can then be trailers back to the bush, or if necessary, be destroyed.
The Alberta Sustainable Resource Development website suggests the following:
The best kind of management for the privacy-loving bears might be no management at all. Because most of their remaining habitat in Alberta has in some way been modified by human use, proactive plans are clearly in the interests of all.
Planning for future wildlands and wildlife will help ensure a positive future for bears and ultimately will assist us in living with animals of our northern forests and western mountains.

Copyright © 2000 The Lakeside Leader. All Rights Reserved.
No part may be reproduced without written permission.

View our Privacy Statement.
Send website suggestions to the Webmaster