Black bear feasting on fruit trees in Canmore killed for public safety

A young black bear that had been feasting on crabapples in a Canmore neighbourhood has been killed for public safety reasons.

Estimated to be about three or four years old, the bear was destroyed by Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers on Saturday (Aug. 24) after feeding in several crabapple trees in a backyard in Peaks of Grassi for close to a week.

“It had been feeding there for several days prior and was basically feeding, eating apples, taking naps, eating more apples, taking naps just in the backyard,” said Nick de Ruyter, program director for Bow Valley WildSmart

“It was in a few backyards in that area as well, and residents as well as the officers tried to yell and shout and scare it away but it didn’t budge. It wasn’t scared of any of the people and stayed there and was highly habituated.”

In Canmore, it is against the law to let fruit or berries accumulate on trees, bushes, or the ground.

Under the bylaws, it is illegal to allow wildlife attractants to remain on a property, including fruit on trees, and the fine is $250.

However, the fine automatically goes up to $1,000 if there is wildlife there or any evidence that wildlife has been attracted to the property.

Caitlin Miller, protective services manager and director of emergency management, said enforcement action has been taken.

“A provincial violation ticket has been served. I can’t give details right now because that’s as much as we can say at this point in time,” she said.

“We are following up with letters to all other residents in the Peaks of Grassi who have wildlife attractants on their property to remind them of the bylaw and to give them the opportunity to remove their fruit.”

Miller said the black bear had been in the neighbourhood for about five days, but no one had contacted the Town of Canmore.

“We haven’t had any reports to the office about the bear in the area because we would have called Fish and Wildlife ourselves, especially if it had been eating fruit or bushes for that long,” she said.

“It’s a really sad story.”

According to de Ruyter, the death of the black bear was totally preventable.

“Let this be a wake-up call for Canmore and Bow Valley residents that bears are in town and coming into town looking for that easy meal and it shouldn't be from our backyards, it shouldn’t be fruit trees,” he said.

“It’s a public safety concern and most likely it’s a death sentence for the bear, so be diligent and remove fruit from trees. If you can’t do that, then consider removing the fruit tree itself, which is the best long-term option.”

With the poor buffaloberry crop this year, de Ruyter said bears are searching for other calorie-rich food sources in order to fatten up ahead of winter’s hibernation.

“Bears are probably going to be taking more risks and coming into town looking for those easy meals and we shouldn’t be the ones providing it to them,” he said.

Wildlife ambassadors have been busy going door-to-door educating residents on the importance of having no wildlife attractants.

Bears accessing fruit trees is one of the main causes of bears needing to be relocated or killed in the Bow Valley.

De Ruyter said wildlife ambassadors are currently canvassing the Cougar Creek area, noting there have been many positive conversations with residents.

“But what bothers me, and what I’m sad about, is that this bear was feeding in the Peaks neighbourhood for five days and no one reported it,” he said.

“They just let the bear hang out there and feed, which is just making the problem worse. Because now the bear thinks that’s OK and it’s going to stay there and just sleep and eat and sleep and eat – this is the outcome.”

A spokesperson for Alberta Fish and Wildlife was not available at press time.

However, de Ruyter said the officers used the provincial black bear response guide to guide their decisions in euthanizing the bear.

“People often paint the Fish and Wildlife officers as the bad guys, but they’re just following the rules and the law and public safety is No. 1 and killing bears is the last thing they want to do,” he said.

The Town of Canmore has a fruit tree removal incentive program, which covers the cost of removing fruit trees or bushes up to $500 per property.

New this year, and only for 2024, condos or commercial properties with five or more trees may be eligible for additional support of up to $1,000 per property.

Miller said the program is first-come first-served and funds are still available in the budget.

“It’s important that we all come together as a community to do our part in co-existing with wildlife, and that includes removing wildlife attractants off a property, so taking down the fruit or removing the tree,” she said.

“To meet our human-wildlife co-existence goals, we need the community to participate and take this seriously. We don’t want to see any more dead bears, so we’re really hopeful that the community will get behind this.”

The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley also has fruit-picking equipment that can be borrowed.

“We’ve had a dozen or two dozen people borrowing our fruit-picking equipment, which is very positive, but you know, it is a town of 14,000 people,” said de Ruyter.