Now that Spring has sprung, black bears are emerging from their dens across the province in search of food.
That's evidenced by the handful of sightings reported in the last week or so from Carman to Altona, where a bear took up residence in a backyard tree for a day.
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Janine Wilmot, a wildlife conflict biologist for the Province, says generally, black bears will avoid areas with human activity unless they are strongly motivated.
"Where we particularly see an increase in reports of black bears in developed areas is when there's severe food shortages," explained. "I think the last year that we had that was in 2021 where we had a late spring frost that impacted the berry crop, and we had widespread drought and fires that were displacing bears across the landscape and causing them to search further afield for water and food resources."
Reduce your risk
However, there are things we can do to reduce our risk of an encounter.
According to Wilmot, that includes taking a look around your yard and removing any potential attractants.
"Things like making sure that you're feeding your pets indoors. If you have any bird feeders out, now is the time of year that we really recommend removing those. There's lots of natural food availability for birds over the summer, so there's really no reason to provide that extra food and it just removes one more potential attractant from your yard."
Be aware
Wilmot added, it's also important to be aware of your surroundings.
"If you have any pets (and) if you're walking with those pets, you want to always make sure that they're kept on a leash. Make sure that you're not walking wearing headphones or something that's going to obstruct your hearing. (Also) be observant of the area around you and if there's any signs that there might be wildlife potentially in the area nearby. Those can include tracks, droppings, sounds of animal presence, or maybe even your neighbours alerting you to the presence of an animal."
Don't entice them
As well, if you are wandering into bear country, Wilmot says it's equally important to remove attractants.
"Things to think about like, how will you be storing your food provisions on a camping trip? Coolers or outdoor fridges, those are readily accessible to bears. So, you want to make sure that they're stored in a way that they can't be accessed - in a secure vehicle that's locked, or something like that, so that they're not able to get in there and access that food reward."
Regardless of whether you encounter a black bear or any other wildlife in an urban or rural setting, Wilmot says the important thing is to remain calm and assess the situation.
"What is their behavior is telling you? In most encounters, you won't actually see the bear because they'll hear you coming and they'll move out of your way long before you see them. In some instances, you might encounter a bear that isn't aware of your presence, and so you can just simply retreat back the way that you came or give it a wide berth and walk around it in a way that's not going to intersect with it. You don't want to startle it if it's not aware of your presence. Just move out of its path."
At the end of the day, Wilmot says it is important to report encounters where a bear is behaving in a threatening manner, is near a populated area or if you feel at risk, to a Manitoba Conservation officer.