Live trap set in Village for the second time this season
A live bear trap was set in the middle of Lions Bay on July 2, in response to a complaint from a Village resident.
The trap, located the junction of Bayview and Upper Bayview, appeared to be closed when photographed by The Watershed on Wednesday evening. It's unclear if this was by design.
In an interview after a bear was trapped in the Village in April of this year, Provincial Conservation Officer (CO) Sergeant Dean Miller said that officers had relocated and released the bear. He said the bear at that time was an untagged adult that was "chemically immobilized" and tagged, and then relocated after it regained consciousness.
More recently, Miller says that COs have received several reports over the last couple of weeks of "bears following hikers and bluff charging near trailheads to the Lions Bay community."
He said that COs have placed signage and other advisories in the area to make the public aware of these behaviors.
Bear Smart team member Norma Rodgers confirmed the location of the signage near the water tank above Sunset trailhead.
“The Conservation Authority’s response is to trap bears in the interest of public safety,” she said. “But for residents, a better first response is to remove attractants. The bylaw states that any attractants accessible to wildlife must be removed. That includes inside garages and outbuildings. When there are no attractants, the bears lose interest and move on, and that’s what we are trying to encourage in our Bear Smart community.”
Rodgers added that bear sightings can be reported at lionsbaybearsmart.ca.
As of the morning of July 5, the live bear trap was no longer in place on Bayview Avenue. The Watershed has contacted conservation authorities for comment.
Have thoughts to share about bears in the village? Leave your comments below, or email us at editor@lionsbaywatershed.ca
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This is so upsetting. Do we know if there were any attractants in the garage?
if people were more responsible with bear attractants such garbage and freezers, we wouldn’t be faced with this dilemma. It is unfortunate people don’t have to pass an IQ test before moving into the village.