Honeyman, J. 2007. Bow Valley Bear Hazard Assessment
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Bow Valley Bear Hazard Assessment Prepared for: Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Prepared By: Jay Honeyman Executive Director Karelian Bear Shepherding Institute of Canada April 2007 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Karelian Bear Shepherding Institute of Canada 313 - 8 Avenue, Canmore, Alberta T1W 2E6 Email: [email protected] Available for download from http:// www.bearconflict.org Cover page photos (clockwise from top left): WRBI, Jay Honeyman, Unknown, Derek Reich, Derek Reich, Unknown, Jay Honeyman Centre photo: Jay Honeyman Executive Summary The Bow Valley, surrounded by federal and provincial protected areas, has been a magnet for developers and recreationists over the last decade. An influx of people and infrastructure has steadily crept into historical bear habitat and put pressure on local bear populations. As human use in the valley increases, so does the chance of bear-human conflicts. Much has been done to mitigate for conflict between bears and people in the valley. Programs such as bear-proof bins, birdfeeder bylaws, Bear Shepherding, attractant management, and the creation of wildlife corridors and highway underpasses have all required varying levels of compromise amongst stakeholders in the valley. Even with these advances, conflict continues to occur as a result of bears obtaining unnatural and natural foods in or near developments, bears becoming habituated and people not complying with local initiatives designed, in part, to reduce conflicts between wildlife and people. As this report outlines, formidable challenges exist. A long-range management plan for bears, that identifies adequate funding to implement, evaluate and sustain necessary programs, is required in order to meet the goals of reducing bear-human conflict and having a sustainable bear population in the Bow Valley. BOW VALLEY BEAR HAZARD ASSESSMENT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the contributions of a number of people whose input made this document possible. Jon Jorgenson, ASRD Bow Region Wildlife Biologist, assisted in many aspects of this report, including data sorting and analyzing. He provided valuable input into local bear management policy and procedure. Angela Braun, ASRD GIS Technologist, assisted with the data analysis and creation of telemetry and bear- human interaction maps. Nancy Ouimet assisted with the overall formatting of the document. Joanna Kadi, who helped to edit the document. Canmore District Fish and Wildlife Officer Ron Wiebe provided valuable information on bear-human conflict issues throughout the study area. Bow District Conservation Officer Glenn Naylor provided valuable information regarding bear-human conflict information on Parks and Protected Area lands within the study area. And lastly, to the numerous people within the Bow Valley who have provided their time and comments towards making the Bow Valley a better place for both bears and people. BOW VALLEY BEAR HAZARD ASSESSMENT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 1 STUDY AREA .............................................................................................................................................. 4 METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................................................... 8 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION................................................................................................................. 13 A. HAZARD ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................... 13 a) Bear Distribution ............................................................................................................................. 13 b) Analysis of Historical Occurrence Records .................................................................................... 18 i) Distribution of Bear-Human Interactions..................................................................................... 18 ii) Attractants................................................................................................................................... 22 c) Other Contributing Factors.............................................................................................................. 30 i) Habituation................................................................................................................................... 30 ii) Compliance and Public Behaviour.............................................................................................. 31 iii) Human Activity in Bear Habitat ................................................................................................ 33 iv) Development.............................................................................................................................. 38 v) Wildlife Corridors and Habitat.................................................................................................... 39 vi) Habitat Alteration....................................................................................................................... 41 d) Area Assessment ............................................................................................................................. 41 i) Provincial Lands - General........................................................................................................... 42 ii) M.D. of Bighorn.......................................................................................................................... 46 iii) Town of Canmore ...................................................................................................................... 48 B. CURRENT BOW VALLEY CONFLICT REDUCTION ACTIVITIES............................................. 53 a) Bear Shepherding ............................................................................................................................ 53 b) Attractant Removal ......................................................................................................................... 54 c) Ornamental Trees ............................................................................................................................ 56 d) Compliance ..................................................................................................................................... 56 e) Trails and Human Use..................................................................................................................... 57 f) Education and Outreach................................................................................................................... 57 g) Habitat Alteration............................................................................................................................ 60 h) Data Collection................................................................................................................................ 60 C. OPTIONS FOR FURTHER REDUCING CONFLICT....................................................................... 61 a) Habituation ...................................................................................................................................... 62 b) Natural Vegetation Attractants........................................................................................................ 63 c) Unnatural Attractants....................................................................................................................... 64 d) Compliance ..................................................................................................................................... 67 BOW VALLEY BEAR HAZARD ASSESSMENT iii e) Human Activity in Bear Habitat...................................................................................................... 71 f) Development.................................................................................................................................... 72 g) Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Patches........................................................................................... 75 h) Education and Outreach .................................................................................................................. 76 i) Data Collection ................................................................................................................................ 77 SUMMARY RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................................... 79 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................... 81 APPENDIX I – DEFINITIONS................................................................................................................. 82 APPENDIX II – NATURAL AND UNNATURAL ATTRACTANTS IN THE BOW VALLEY........ 83 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 84 BOW VALLEY BEAR HAZARD ASSESSMENT iv FIGURES Figure 1. Bear Management Actions Involving Removal (Relocation or Destruction).................................. 2 Figure 2. Categories of Bear-Human Interactions in the Bow Valley (1985 to 2005) ................................. 14 Figure 3. Density of Telemetry Locations by Season and Highest Location Zone