Thousands of human-wildlife conflicts reported across B.C. in 2017
VICTORIA — British Columbians love nature, but that draw to be in the wilderness is part of the reason the province has seen thousands of conflicts between humans and wild animals this year, a wildlife expert says.
Many B.C. communities have wilderness at their doorstep and that mixture can create problems, said Adam Ford, a biology professor at the University of B.C. Okanagan.
“We don’t expect to see a lot of bear conflicts in downtown Vancouver, because that’s a lot of country for a bear to get across, but it’s on the edges that we see these problems,” Ford said.
People also want to get up close and personal with wildlife, which can be dangerous for both humans and animals, he added.