With the approaching warm weather, bears are coming out of hibernation, as is the qathet Regional District (qRD) WildSafeBC program.
According to a media release, WildSafeBC is the provincial leader in preventing conflict with wildlife through collaboration, education and community solutions, and is delivered by the BC Conservation Foundation in communities across BC. Krystle Mitchelitis is back this season as the WildSafeBC qRD coordinator.
The release stated that while the COVID-19 pandemic may be keeping people at home, bears and other wildlife that live nearby are becoming active. As community coordinator, Mitchelitis stated she will be working hard to reach out to community members in new and innovative ways that maintain physical distancing and safety for the community.
From April to November, Mitchelitis will be involved in a number of WildSafeBC-modified program initiatives, including door-to-door information delivery campaigns, public display booths, and webinar delivery of the highly requested wildsafe ranger program for school-aged children, as well as the wildlife awareness and safety education sessions. Readers can email Mitchelitis for more information on how to register for these free programs.
The qRD WildSafeBC program will continue to provide local wildlife activity news and tips as the season progresses on the local Facebook page.
“We look forward to hearing from you,” stated Mitchelitis. “With your help, we can reduce conflict with wildlife and keep our community safe.”
For further information on wildlife and how to reduce human-wildlife conflict, go to wildsafebc.com, follow WildSafeBC qathet Regional District on Facebook, or contact Mitchelitis at [email protected], or 250.898.7451.
The release stated that people can report wildlife in conflict to the conservation officer service at any time at 1.877.952.7277. Residents can also report sightings of bear, cougar, coyote or wolf in an urban area. These reports are uploaded daily to WildSafeBC’s wildlife alert reporting program (WARP), available at warp.wildsafebc.com. This program allows the public to see what wildlife has been reported in their neighbourhood and be alerted of new sightings.
