Living with black bears: What Sask. residents need to know

For generations, black bears have been a familiar part of Saskatchewan’s landscape — roaming forests, river valleys and rural areas across the province.

After a number of recent, fatal encounters in a short period of time, many residents are asking a difficult question: Why have there been so many incidents?

Elizabeth O’Hara, a wildlife ecologist with the Ministry of Environment, said the recent events are not typical of normal black bear behaviour.

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“This is the highest number of fatalities that we’ve seen in a single year. So this is very unusual behaviour, but it can happen,” O’Hara said.

She said bear behaviour can be influenced by a number of environmental and human factors, and that food availability is one of the biggest factors.

“There’s a lot of things that can impact bear behaviour,” O’Hara said. “Some of those can be environmental factors. If there’s limited food availability, bears may be coming into closer areas and areas of human contact, looking for food.”

O’Hara stressed the importance of removing anything that will draw bears in.

“The best thing that we can do is try to minimize any attractants, so that we’re not bringing bears into our areas.”

Some common attractants include garbage, pet food, bird feeders and leftover food at campsites.

Despite the recent fatalities, O’Hara said aggressive encounters with black bears are still rare, but certain circumstances can trigger a reaction.

“There’s typically sort of two types of negative interactions that we can have with a black bear,” she said, noting a bear may act defensively if it feels threatened or is protecting something important.

“That’s typically when a bear is guarding a resource such as territory or food or its cubs,” O’Hara explained.

“They always say, ‘Don’t come between a mom and its cubs,’ because that can trigger some sort of defensive interaction.”

She said another type of encounter is much less common.

“Alternatively, there can be predatory interactions with black bears, which are incredibly rare, and that’s when a bear is intentionally attacking a human,” she said.

Despite the recent attacks raising questions about whether Saskatchewan’s black bear population is growing, O’Hara said that is not what wildlife officials are seeing.

“The bear population in Saskatchewan is actually relatively stable,” she said. “So we’re not seeing any massive increases or decreases in bear populations.”

O’Hara said bear numbers naturally fluctuate depending on conditions, but their biology also limits rapid population growth.

“Female bears in Saskatchewan typically don’t have their first cub until they’re five years old, and then they’re having cubs about every two years after that,” she explained.

For people spending time outdoors, O’Hara stressed the importance of preparation and knowing how to respond.

“If you do encounter a bear, the number one thing we would say is to be calm and don’t run,” O’Hara said.

Instead, she recommended other alternatives: “Make a wide detour, back away slowly, speak in a firm, deep voice, and don’t make direct eye contact with the bear,” she said.

O’Hara added that people travelling to areas with high bear populations should make sure they are prepared.

“If you’re out in bear country, carry bear spray where appropriate and know how to use it,” she said.

As more people spend time at cabins, campgrounds and in the backcountry, O’Hara said preventing conflicts starts before an encounter ever happens.

“If we can really limit those human food sources out there, bears are less likely to come into our areas in seeking of food,” O’Hara said. “Instead (they) will be out in the bush, out in nature, eating those natural food sources that they should be eating.”

O’Hara said simple steps can help keep bears away from communities.

“Bears are really intelligent creatures and they’re ruled by their stomachs, so if they can’t find food, they’ll leave the area,” she said.