Coquitlam is reminding residents, park visitors and businesses to make sure they are not allowing bears access to attractants such as garbage, birdseed or fruit.
COQUITLAM, B.C., Aug. 3, 2023 – Coquitlam is reminding residents, park visitors and businesses to make sure they are not allowing bears access to attractants such as garbage, birdseed or fruit.
Bears are currently being seen throughout the City, with a particular increase in sightings in Hockaday and Mundy Parks, and the surrounding neighbourhoods. As a result, City staff are patrolling the community, with a focus on these areas, looking for attractants such as garbage and green carts stored improperly.
Plan a Safe Picnic in the Park
Guided by massive appetites and a keen sense of smell, bears find unsecured garbage carts, dumpsters and other food sources in the park (including your lunch) to be an irresistible draw.
Please do not leave any food unattended in a park, even if it is in a cooler, backpack or lunchkit. If you see a bear accessing attractants, please call 604-927-3660 or email UrbanWildlife@coquitlam.ca.
Help Keep Bears Away From Your Property
You can take simple steps to keep bears safe and prevent human-wildlife conflict, including:
- Store garbage, food waste and recycling in a secure area that is inaccessible to wildlife, such as a locked garage or shed. Alternatively, residents can purchase or build a wildlife resistant enclosure to secure solid waste and prevent wildlife from accessing attractants;
- Only place carts and bins at the curb after 5:30 a.m. on collection day—not the night before; and
- Keep carts and bins odour-free by freezing smelly garbage and food waste until collection day and regularly cleaning them.
Reminder: Property owners who allow wildlife to access attractants—even unintentionally—may receive a $500 fine. These rules are explained at coquitlam.ca/BearSmart.
You Might Be Putting Bears at Risk
Bears have a strong sense of smell, meaning it only takes a small amount of food to attract them to your picnic or property. Taking steps to make sure they don’t find an easy meal at the park and in your neighbourhood will help encourage them to forage in natural areas rather than backyards.
Unsecured garbage continues to be the most common bear attractant in Coquitlam. This is a problem because bears that become used to eating garbage can become unpredictable, and increase the risk to public safety. Other common attractants at this time of year are fruit trees, bushes, birdseed and uncleaned barbecues.
It is up to everyone to do their part to be bear smart. City staff are available to help provide tips and advice on how to make your property—and especially your garbage—less attractive to bears.
For more information on securing attractants, visit coquitlam.ca/BearSmart.
To report wildlife attractants, improper storage of attractants or wildlife accessing attractants, call the City at 604-927-3660 or email UrbanWildlife@coquitlam.ca. To report a conflict with wildlife that threatens public safety or causes property damage, call the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
Media contact:
Caresse Selk
Manager Environment
604-927-3500
UrbanWildlife@coquitlam.ca
We acknowledge with gratitude and respect that the name Coquitlam was derived from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ word kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (kwee-kwuh-tlum) meaning “Red Fish Up the River”. The City is honoured to be located on the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) traditional and ancestral lands, including those parts that were historically shared with the sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), and other Coast Salish Peoples.