Bear-proofing in Whitehorse, Yukon

The northern city of Whitehorse has a problem with bears.

As a northern city, the wilderness is all around and close by. In some residential areas, the wilderness begins  in fact right at the end of the back yard.

Bears like the easy food pickings of people’s garbage and they sometimes come in to residential areas to get it. Once they discover this food source, they can be hard to get rid of.

Unfortunately because of the potential danger to humans, 41 bears were killed last year in the territory and 38 more had to be relocated from communities.

Wildwise Yukon is a non-profit group trying to prevent the unfortunate encounters between bears and humans. They have started a pilot project to get people to use their bear-proof garbage bins. 

The plastic bins have sturdy locking lids, while also being robust and flexible (at least in summer heat) to withstand blows from the bears.

Various types of bear-proof bins and latching concepts have been tested in the field and appear to work.

 

It’s hoped that with this pilot project, the bears will learn that they can’t get at the garbage/food and so will not stay around long, and perhaps even learn that its not worth trying and so not even come into residential areas in the first place.

In the province of British Columbia, several communities have made bear-proofing mandatory.

At the end of the season, Wild Wise Yukon will survey those involved in the pilot project to see if wildlife came into their yards and if the bins were successful.

Wild wise Yukon