Give bears lots of room and stay calm: conservation officer

With people flocking to beaches and campgrounds this August Long Weekend a Saskatchewan conservation officer is asking people to pay close attention for bears.

Brett Diemart told 650 CKOM if you encounter a bear it’s best to give it lots of room.

“Stay calm, don’t run, never try to approach them, never try to back away from the animal,” he said.

Diemart explains bears aren’t usually interested in people but could become aggressive when it comes to a food source.

“Generally they begin to be defensive or protective over a feed source that generally is produced by humans,” he said.

Some bears looking for food might not be afraid of humans, Diemart warns, especially if the animal associates humans with food sources.

According to Diemart, that is the difference between nuisance bear and habituated animals.

Animals that have discovered humans have food, whether it’s garbage or gardens may become habitually attracted to the area he explained.

He said those animals are no longer scared off by people in most cases.

While nuisance bears can often be moved successfully to other areas Diemart said habituated animals are different.

“They’ll seek out humans again,” he said. “You move those animals you just move the problem to a different location.”

In those cases, the animals are often euthanized.

Saskatoon’s Travis Hiebert told 650 CKOM he had numerous run ins with a bear last weekend trying to get to his food at a Makwa Lake Provincial Park campsite.

Hiebert was able to scare the animal away.