2008 bear & human conflict maps

These maps (click to enlarge) were created from data collected in 2008 by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Bear Smart Durango and the City of Durango's Refuse Enforcement Officer. GIS maps were generously provided by Rob Bergstrom with the La Plata County GIS Department. Thank you so much Rob for your expertise and assistance.  Data was compiled and entered into Excel by Bear Smart Durango.

Data includes bear sightings (bear(s) seen) and incidents (bears in trash, in human foods, broke into homes, etc.) in the city and county. It does not include bear management or non-hunter bear mortality data, (euthanization, capture and relocation, predation or bear-vehicle mortality). Absent from maps this year are calls to the Herald Bear Tracker, as those records were not preserved. That has been remedied.

There were 228 total reports, down from 1,271 in 2007. Of the 228 reports, 132 were in the city and 96 in the county. 121 (or 53%) were directly trash-related.

Acknowledgements: Colorado Division of Wildlife, Bear Smart Durango, City of Durango and La Plata County.

Note: These maps are for visual representation only and care must be taken in analyzing and interpreting the information contained.

bear smart imax film & food fundraiser

Bear Smart Durango hosts a heart-warming Valentine's fundraiser with the award-winning IMAX film "BEARS" on Friday, Feb. 13th at 7PM at the Smiley Theater. Come at 6PM for a pre-screening chili (meat or veggie) & chip reception courtesy of Carver Brewing and Zuberfizz. Bring a bear, any bear, be it soft, fuzzy, hard, toy, a painting or photo for our Bear Gift Sale with all proceeds benefitting Bear Smart Durango. (No live bears, please). 

Fri. Feb. 13

Smiley Theater

6 PM: food and bear sale

7 PM: IMAX BEARS film

$12 adults ($10 film only)

$7 children ($5 film only)

Tickets available in advance at Maria's Bookshop, Magpies Newsstand Cafe and Southwest Sound.

 

This event is sponsored by: AJ Construction, LeGrand Construction, Tile Art, Advanced Concrete Solutions and Roseberry's Plumbing & Heating and is presented by Mara Legrand and Skydancer Productions.

Special thanks to: Carver Brewing, Zuberfizz, New Ice, City Market and Primesco Productions. 

About the film: The fourth and most anticipated giant-screen film produced by the National Wildlife Federation, "BEARS" explores the mythical past and fragile future of some of the most misunderstood predators on the planet. From polar bears in the arctic tundra to grizzlies in Alaska and black bears in Montana, "BEARS" presents these enterprising omnivores in the full glory of their natural habitats and depicts the challenges facing each species.

county passes bear & trash ordinance

On December 18, 2008, the La Plata County Board of Commissioners passed a wildlife-resistant container ordinance. This ordinance, proposed by the Living with Wildlife Advisory Board, provides county residents the option to minimize wildlife conflicts with trash by either placing trash in receptacles between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. on the day of pick up or by purchasing bear-resistant trash containers.

A copy of the ordinance is available here. 

An article on the ordinance in The Durango Herald can be found here. 

bear-resistant dumpsters

Here are some photo examples of wildlife-resistant (there's really no such thing as bear-proof) dumpsters. These dumpsters have metal lids and latching mechanisms that don't allow bears access. To upgrade your dumpsters to be wildlife-resistant or to order wildlife-resistant dumpsters, contact your local waste provider. 

For an enlarged version of these photos, click here or on the photos to view in Picasa. Click on the green arrow to begin slideshow.

bad idea. bad execution.

Sometimes, a bears behavior requires that it be moved (or relocated) in some instances. Unfortunately, not all relocations of bears go as planned. (Many of you have probably seen these photos of a wildlife official being attacked during a release by an annoyed grizzly bear that was rather unceremoniously dumped from a culvert trap). 

Here is video from the Craig Kilborn Show of one such flawed effort in Missoula, MT to tranquilize and remove a bear from a tree in 2007. WARNING: not for the faint of heart. The bear ended up ok, (at least in this stage of the process), but perhaps it may have been better to just leave the bear alone to remove itself from the tree on its own.

After seeing examples such as this, I'm amazed that black bears don't haul off and whack us humans more often. They display far more tolerance then we do. 

bearsaver container brochure

BearSaver makes arguably the best residential wildlife-resistant poly cart trash container in the industry. The latching mechanism is easily unlocked with one finger through an opening in the front and the lid automatically locks when closed. They come in three models (Grizzly, Black Bear and Varmint) and three sizes, (32-gallon, 65-gallon and 95-gallon). 

Check out and download a pdf of their brochure, here.

bear-proof container testing

Here is a video of a BearBins wildlife-resistant trash container being tested using captive grizzly bears. Containers are baited with foods, latching mechanisms are smeared with attractants such as molasses and placed in with the bears to test for effectiveness, using protocols established by the Living with Wildlife Foundation. This testing is done at The Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, MT. 

View a slideshow of wildlife-resistant container testing here:

Another testing video can be found on the BearSaver web site:

http://www.bearsaver.com/PolyCart_Video.htm

Bears are given 60-minutes to fail the containers and access food rewards and containers that withstand the onslaught are star-rated in their abilities in being bear-resistant. Containers that have passed product-testing can be viewed here. I've been told that the bears remember where containers failed in previous testing and immediately test any new design modifications, one year after the previous test.