The Mayor of Princeton wants to ease residents’ minds that the town is addressing bear issues in the community.
In a post to the town’s Facebook page, Mayor Spencer Coyne reassured the community town council is concerned about human-bear interactions.
Coyne said the town is working with WildSafeBC representatives to make the community bear smart.
“Coun. (Barb) Gould has been working with our WildSafe co-ordinator, Carolyn Blank, on Princeton becoming a BearSmart community,” wrote Coyne. “I have also asked staff for a cost on what it will take for the town to replace its garbage cans with bear-proof cans.”
Coyne said an inventory of garbage cans along the KVR and in parks is being done, so a cost analysis can be created and brought before council as soon as possible.
Coyne also asked residents to call the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277 if they are having issues with bears or other animals. That’s not so the animal can be killed, he explained, but to create a database of all urban wildlife conflicts that council can lobby the province with to fund a local conservation officer.
@LarynGilmour
laryn.gilmour@blackpress.ca
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