As warmer weather brings more traffic to Elk Island National Park, visitors this spring expecting to see bison might find themselves seeing something else — black bears.

Staff say many visitors have no idea black bears are in the park.

“They didn’t even know that there were bears here and so they didn’t know to carry bear spray. They didn’t know to make noise,” explained lead ecologist Ramona Maraj.

She said recent research indicates there’s now around 40 black bears in the park, a population that really started growing around 2016.

“It’s part of a North America wide range expansion that’s happening of black bear,” Maraj said.

“Elk Island has really good resources, good beet hazel and berry resources for them.”

While there haven’t been any negative interactions reported with visitors, Parks Canada has taken steps to mitigate the risk, doing things like installing bear-proof garbage containers and lockers for campers’ groceries.

“That is a bear-resistant place for them to be able to store food. They can also store it in a hard-sided vehicle. We discourage people from thinking things like their tent might be a place where they can store food,” Maraj explained.

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She said hungry bears have no problem destroying a tent to get a meal.

“People who are here for picnics, one of the big issues that we often encounter is that they will leave their food unattended.”

When it comes to hiking or biking in the park, Maraj said in addition to carrying bear spray, travelling in groups and making noise, visitors should avoid using the trails at dawn or dusk.

She also recommends people not wear headphones or earbuds, so they can hear approaching wildlife.

“We need to think about how we can coexist with them. How do we reduce the change of conflicts?”

Visitors may also spot bears along the roadside, and drivers are encouraged to slow down, but not stop.

“We’ve been trying to educate people. And we’ve been doing an aversive conditioning program where we teach the bears that if cars are stopping for them, they should run into the bush and hide.”

They say it’s important Elk Island’s bears don’t get comfortable around people.

“It tends to cascade into them having to be destroyed which is an outcome nobody really wants,” Maraj said.

“If you are aware of what’s here, then you can prepare yourself when you’re coming to Elk Island.”

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