It’s high season for wildlife encounters on the BC Coast.
The BC Conservation Officer Service says they have seen an increased number of reported bear and cougar sightings in the past few months.
Conservation Officer Mark Kissinger says it’s common during this time of year to see an increase, but encourages people to be wildlife smart all year round.
He says an interesting fact about bears on Vancouver Island, is sometimes they don’t hibernate at all.
“Basically hibernation is something that they do when there’s a lack of food so if they can access garbage or non-natural foods, they’ll do that all year long and not even hibernate.”
Kissinger says there are three key messages when it comes to wildlife encounters – always call to report any sightings, lock up your garbage, and pick any fruit trees as soon as the fruit is ripe.
