Although it might seem like there are more bears within eyeshot, the numbers to date this year are the same, if not lower, than previous years for bear encounters, according to the Department of Environment and Climate Change (ECC).
However, there have been some close calls between people and bears in the NWT.
A recent encounter happened at the Canadian Tire in Yellowknife on Sept. 13. Shannon Graf, a communications officer for ECC, said renewable resource officers responded and the bear was successfully deterred from the area.
"It was confirmed that the animal was getting into garbage. No further calls have been received about this bear," said Graf.
She added that close interactions between people and an animal are not uncommon in the North. According to the most recent figures, which were last updated as of Aug. 16, the NWT has had a total of 62 bear encounters in 2024. Of those encounters, ECC staff killed 53 bears and relocated the rest.
By contrast, in 2023, ECC killed SA国际影视传媒� or as the department refers to it, "dispatched" SA国际影视传媒� 109 bears. That year, they also relocated nine of the animals.
The region with the most bear encounters so far is South Slave, which has almost 40 reports in total, about three quarters of which ended in killing bears.
Specifically, Fort Smith has had the most encounters this year, both for dispatching and relocating a bear, at 23 and five, respectively.
"Wildfires, drought and other factors in the Northwest Territories might be affecting black bearsSA国际影视传媒� food sources, leading them to follow their noses into communities," explained Graf. "Although it might seem like there are more bears, the numbers to date this year are the same, if not lower, than previous years."
Graf said ECC will keep working with municipalities to encourage the maintenance and installation of electric fences around landfills.
"There are only five landfills in the NWT with an electric fence installed to deter wildlife from entering, and we have seen that, at times, those electric fences have not been installed appropriately for wildlife, or have not been maintained, leading to bears and other wildlife becoming habituated to landfills and human activity," she stated.
In a previous interview with SA国际影视传媒, Julian Sabourin, a renewable resource officer with ECC, said killing a bear is a worst-case scenario, and an unfortunate reality. However, the animal's body doesn't go to waste.
"It's brought back to do wildlife samples," Sabourin explained. "Typically, wildlife samples are taken and then it could be stored for future necropsies or training."
More statistics on bear encounters will be made available this November, said Graf.
