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Public urged to become bear aware

With spawning salmon and ripening fruit across the Central Okanagan, bears move down into the valley in search of food.

It’s time visitors to local regional parks beef up their bear awareness.

With spawning salmon and ripening fruit across the Central Okanagan, evidence of bear activity is increasing as the bruins move down into the valley from the higher elevations in search of food.

The signs that bears are more frequent visitors are occurring all over the Central Okanagan Regional District, including Mission Creek Regional Park, along the Mission Creek Greenway, in Mill Creek Regional Park and in Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Regional Park.  They’re also known to frequent other more natural regional parks like Kalamoir, Glen Canyon, Rose Valley, Cedar Mountain and Bertram Creek.

“This is the time of year that we start seeing more bears in some of our regional parks,” said CORD’s Bruce Smith. “As reports of bears increase, signs are posted advising all park users that the animals may be active in the area.”

To reduce your chance of encountering a bear, you should travel in a group, make noise or carry something that makes noise. During fall fish spawning season, it’s not unusual for park visitors to encounter bears along local creeks and rivers, as kokanee are a plentiful source of food.