Bear activity continues throughout Big White, including confirmed sightings of a sow with two cubs.  Please be aware that we DO NOT have an accurate inventory of the bears.  Just because a bear was spotted in one location does not mean that there are not bears in other locations throughout the populated community.

WE WANT TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BEARS LOCATION (WITHOUT ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO COME TO BIG WHITE TO SEE THEM)

For safety purposes, it is extremely valuable to share information about bear sightings with the community.

When posting on social media, we encourage people to share the bear’s location (without photos) on the Big White Mountain Community News Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/19Hy12htFq/

We understand that people want to share photos of these majestic animals. However, we ask that you post those on your personal Facebook page rather than on community group pages. We want to avoid attracting sightseers to Big White to look for bears.

It is safer for both people and bears if bears remain wary of humans. When bears lose their natural fear, they can become a significant public safety risk, which often leads to them being destroyed by conservation officers.

Our goal is to keep both people and bears safe.

NEVER FEED THE BEARS AND KEEP YOUR GARBAGE SECURELY STORED

We do not want to attract bears into populated areas, in the interest of keeping both people and bears safe. You can help by minimizing bear attractants, particularly food and garbage.

Once a bear accesses an unnatural food source—especially high-calorie items commonly found in trash —it will continue to aggressively seek out those sources.

Each year in British Columbia, hundreds of bears are destroyed as a result of conflicts with people. Most of these conflicts begin when bears gain access to non-natural food sources such as garbage.

Thank you for doing your part to keep people and the bears safe!