Port Moody man hopes education saves bears
Posted August 8, 2019 11:22 am.
Last Updated August 9, 2019 10:56 am.
PORT MOODY (NEWS 1130) – He’s tired of bears being put down because of humans, and now a Port Moody man is on a mission to make Metro Vancouver more bear-aware.
Dave Tate started the group Tri-Cities Bear Aware last week to educate people on how to detract bears because he thinks those who live in the community can help the city spread the word.
“We’re the community. We’re the neighbours. We’re the friends. We’re the people wandering around the neighbourhoods,” he says.
It comes after at least four bears have put down this summer in Metro Vancouver, including a mother and her two cubs.
Tate wants to teach people how to stop bears from becoming habituated and prevent their death.
“When that happens the bear loses its fear of people and that’s when the bear has to be put down and it’s just needless,” he says.
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As cities continue to expand and the need to build is unavoidable, Tate says the public needs to be educated in order to coexist with wildlife. And it’s not simply an enforcement issue because he says cities aren’t doing a bad job getting the word out.
“We’re the ones on the front-lines. We see everything, so we can take a hand,” he says.
Tate says if everyone comes together it will be easier to spread information on awareness.
He hopes the group can present a full bear-aware educational plan to Port Moody city council in the coming months. In the meantime, Tate is focused on improving education through the Facebook page which hundreds of people have already joined.
