Castlegar warns of significant bear activity after unusually quiet 2025
CASTLEGAR — The City of Castlegar is warning residents to secure garbage, fruit and other wildlife attractants as significant bear activity is reported in and around the community this year.
The warning comes after an unusually quiet 2025. The WildSafeBC Castlegar program recorded 46 black bear reports to the Conservation Officer Service between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, the lowest number recorded since the organization began tracking the area in 2017.
The city has not yet released a comparable number for 2026, but WildSafeBC Castlegar coordinator Tara Pejski said Friday that residents are seeing considerably more activity.
“We’re seeing a lot of bear activity this year,” Pejski said in a city release, urging residents to check their properties for potential food sources.
Garbage and organics, ripe or fallen fruit, pet food, birdseed and compost can all attract bears into residential areas. Once bears repeatedly find food around homes, they can become increasingly accustomed to people and return to the same neighbourhoods.
Late summer and fall are particularly important periods for managing attractants as bears increase their food intake ahead of winter.
The 2025 total was well below every other year for which WildSafeBC has data since tracking began in 2017.
There were 164 black bear reports in 2017, 139 in 2018, 105 in 2019 and 153 in 2020. Reports reached 231 in 2021 and 194 in 2022 before falling to 96 in 2024 and 46 last year. Data for 2023 was unavailable in the WildSafeBC report.
WildSafeBC cautioned in its 2025 annual report that the numbers do not capture every encounter. The organization found some residents did not report bears because they believed a report would automatically result in the animal being killed.
Managing attractants remained an issue even during last year's quieter season.
WildSafeBC tagged 81 residential bins left accessible during eight rounds of inspections and reported 14 commercial bins that were unlocked or had open lids. During the season, 14 wildlife-attractant tickets were issued and 77 warnings were given.
Castlegar's wildlife-attractant rules require garbage, organic and recycling carts to remain locked and secured until collection morning. Carts can be placed at the curb with clips unlocked between 4 and 7 a.m. on collection day.
Residents can face fines of up to $200 for unsecured carts or carts placed out outside the permitted collection window.
Fruit trees are another concern as summer crops ripen.
The city is again encouraging residents to use Harvest Match Castlegar, a program that connects people with excess fruit or nuts with volunteers willing to harvest them.
The program was launched by the city and WildSafeBC in 2022 following increased human-bear conflict that spring. Six bears had been destroyed that year by the time the program was announced.
Last year's WildSafeBC report recommended continuing Harvest Match in 2026, particularly at properties with unmanaged fruit trees. It also called for earlier bin tagging, more monitoring of commercial garbage bins and continued enforcement where attractants are repeatedly left accessible.
Residents are being asked to pick ripe fruit and clean up fallen produce, feed pets indoors, remove bird feeders until winter and keep garbage and compost inaccessible to wildlife.
Bear sightings and conflicts can be reported to the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
The city says those reports provide important information about wildlife activity and support efforts to respond to emerging concerns.
The City of Castlegar is warning residents to secure garbage, fruit and other wildlife attractants as significant bear activity is reported in and around the community this year.