Staff Report: Wildlife – Bears in Langford

Staff Report: Wildlife – Bears in Langford

2nd Floor · 877 Goldstream Avenue · Langford, BC Canada · V9B 2X8
T · 250-478-7882 F · 250-478-7864

To

Protective Services Committee

Date

April 11, 2019

Department

Bylaw Enforcement

Subject

Wildlife – Bears in Langford

Background

At the February 4, 2019 meeting of Council, consideration was given to a request coming from the Westhills Neighbourhood Residents Group for a $500 grant to create awareness and mitigate bear conflicts. Instead of approving the application at that time, Council chose to refer the concerns about wildlife to the Protective Services Committee and City staff for additional research.

Commentary

Under the Wildlife Act, all large wildlife (bears, cougars, deer etc.) fall to the province of BC and its Conservation Officer Service for protection and management. Staff have now had an opportunity to conduct research, including consultation with the Conservation Officer Service (COS) and have learned that bear events/sightings have historically been very rare within Langford boundaries (they are more frequent within the Highlands, Metchosin or Sooke) and when sightings do happen, they are more likely to occur in those portions of the Bear Mountain Resort area which border the vastly wooded areas of the Highlands.

Langford specific statistics (fiscal March 31 to March 31) over the past 2 years:

• 2018/2019 show 51 Bear complaints/reports - mostly in the Bear Mountain and Goldstream Park areas.

• One of those complaints was confirmed at the north end of Florence Lake were a bear attempted to hide under a resident’s mobile home. The bear abandoned its attempts when COS attended.

• 2017/2018 show 65 Bear complaints/reports, again mostly in the Bear Mountain and Goldstream Park areas.

• There have been no requirements for the CO Service to conduct removal or euthanasia actions of any bear due to extreme nuisance activity within the past 5 years in Langford.

• The busiest months for incoming bear complaints are between June (when bears come out of hibernation) and again in September/October (when the natural food sources become low).

• The CO Service notes in respect of those reports made that no firm number of local bears is known and that it’s often possible that 20 complaints could be traced back to a single bear’s presence.

Because bears and similar large animals fall within the Wildlife Act, they cannot be directly regulated (or interfered with) by local government, but local governments have complete ability to head up or fund awareness programs, or even an ability to adopt Bylaws to limit attractants presented to such wildlife (eg: management of household garbage, fruit bearing trees –timely harvests, etc.).

Staff are not recommending at this time that consideration be given to the adoption of a Bylaw which would impose controls over attractants as mentioned above, rather

Because bear “events” can be reported in a range of areas throughout Langford, staff are recommending Committee and Council consider providing bear awareness information to all residents of Langford through the posting of key information on the City website and through other means such as the acquisition of literature suitable for distribution through City Hall to the public. In researching material for this report, staff have identified a range of worthwhile sources of excellent material, including websites and brochures from various reliable sources (eg: BC Parks, Conservation Officer Service, and other local government bodies where bears have been proven to be much more of a challenge to the community).

Financial Implications

Langford could purchase readily available brochures on the topic or undertake to design and print its own for distribution. Committee and Council can fully control such costs by setting a maximum budget. The posting of URL (links) to the City website for effective sharing of information with the public present little to no cost.

Legal Implications

None anticipated at this time.

Options

That the Protective Services Committee recommend to Council, respective of bear and wildlife presence in urban settings:

1. that a wider benefit to all residents of Langford will come from establishing a range of available informational sources, including the creation of a dedicated webpage on the www.cityoflangford.ca site containing relevant informational links (URLs), and/or;
2. that the City compile and print, or otherwise acquire subject specific brochures and literature for distribution to the public, and;
3. that Council thank and acknowledge the Westhills Neighbourhood Residents Group for their initiative in bringing the matter of bears in urban settings forward for the community attention and action.

Respectfully submitted

Submitted by:
Lorne Fletcher, Manager of Community Safety and Municipal Enforcement

Concurrence:
Cory Manton, Manager of Parks and Recreation

Concurrence:
Braden Hutchins, Director of Corporate Services

Concurrence:
Darren Kiedyk, Chief Administrative Officer

:LF