Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Jasper National Park is warning of bears entering the townsite to feed on fruit trees, which are showing above-average production this year.
A sow black bear with her cubs and another single black bear have been feeding on cherry and apple trees in town this season.
“They’re basically cycling through different portions of this community, sometimes spending the whole night in trees if we’re not getting informed of them,” said Steve Malcolm, wildlife management specialist with Parks Canada.
During late summer and autumn, black and grizzly bears search the park’s valley bottoms for food to fatten themselves up before winter.
Sweet and ripened fruit left hanging on trees lures bears onto townsite properties.
Malcolm estimated that the townsite had close to 1,000 fruit trees.
Parks Canada had historically worked to limit the number of bear attractants, such as bear-proofing trash containers, but fruit trees remain one of the few attractants left in town.
The best way for residents to avoid this problem is to remove fruit trees from their property.
“If you can remove the attractant, that’s the primary objective,” Malcolm said.
“If you can’t remove it and you don’t want that fruit tree there, you just call us and we’ll have that tree removed immediately without any problem, no cost to the landowner, and we’re just really trying to encourage that solution.”
Residents should also remove all other wildlife attractants from their property, including compost, recycling, garbage, garden produce and bird feeders.
Bears sightings must be reported immediately in order for these bears not to become food conditioned, since conditioned bears often need to be euthanized.
To get assistance in removing a fruit tree at no cost, call or text 780-852-8523.
Residents can also ask the Jasper Fruit Share or Jasper Local Food Society for assistance in managing and using fruit.
Contact them through their Facebook pages or call Jasper Local Food Society at 343-363-3964.
To minimize the potential of a bear encounter, the public is also advised to watch for bears and avoid them, make noise to alert bears of your presence, supervise children playing outdoors and keep dogs on a leash.
Report bear sightings to Parks Canada at 780-852-6155.
