A spike in grizzly bear sightings leads to question of how to co-exist

It seems there’s been a spike in grizzly bear sightings throughout the seat of sky in recent years. I remember not too long ago actually reporting on a grizzly sighting near this elementary school in Islamic and being a local here. Raising my family here. I remember being really concerned about it and I was hoping it was just a one off. But since then there’s been several sightings of Grizzlies and communities along the sea to sky. In 2023, a Whistler Elementary school and golf course were temporarily shut down because of grizzly sightings, and according to experts, living with grizzly bears is going to become more common. Longer a question of of recovery. It’s our question of coexistence and how people living in the valleys up here are just going to have to become a bit more bear aware. Grizzly bears were almost haunted to extinction, but in 1975 things started to turn around as they were placed on the endangered list in the US and people stopped killing them as frequently. Then in 2017 BC band trophy hunting for all non First Nations on grizzly bears and slowly their population started to recover. And while Grizzlies tend to avoid humans, there are rare occasions when they travel into town, and so we need to learn to live with them. A lot of people are very frightened at this event, and understandably because because once in a while, particularly when you surprise them, that they can be, you know, somewhat explosive. First, it’s important to manage attractants, to hopefully keep the bears away. You have garbage and fruit trees or chickens or any of those things that are accessible to bears. You know they’ll find them. Secondly, it’s important to stay safe on trails. Make sure you make lots of noise so you don’t surprise the bears. Make sure that you go with groups and always carry bear spray. And lastly, if you do have an encounter with a grizzly, don’t run or turn your back. Speak softly and calmly and if the bear does charge, remember that they can be more aggressive than black bears and so you should lay down and play dead. But experts remind us they don’t actually want to hurt you and aggressive situations will likely only happen in remote areas or if there’s a run in with mom and her Cubs.