It’s that time of year when our grizzly bears are emerging from their dens and heading down to valley bottoms to seek out the first greens of spring.
The Kettle Granby Grizzly Bear population unit spans north to south from hwy 6 to the US border and bound east to west by the Arrow Lakes and the Kettle River and, this does include the Rossland Range.
The current population estimate of the Kettle Granby Grizzly Bear is 86 bears. It is still considered a threatened population by managers and has not been hunted now since the mid nineties. There are conflicting views in how our grizzly bears are doing here in the Kettle-Granby. Some believe they have recovered, while others believe they are still threatened.
Collecting sightings information on our grizzly bears can help us gain a better understanding of the distribution of these grizzly bears and areas they are occupying. Even better is the chance to collect some hair samples from individuals which gives a lot more information from the DNA that can be extracted.
Please report your sightings of grizzly bears to Jenny Coleshill, project coordinator, Granby Wilderness Society at 250-442-7969 and leave a message or email jenny.coleshill@granbywildernesss.ca.
If at all possible a picture would be fantastic to confirm the species and the individual. Other details that are needed is the location you saw the animal, (as precise as possible; GPS reading the best way), the date you saw the bear, and any unique behaviour you notice.
Remember, grizzly bears can be dangerous animals so please respect them if you do have an encounter and most important, be safe.
Sharon Wieder
Bear Aware Community Coordinator
Box 1054, Rossland, VOG 1YO, BC
Tel: (250) 231-2751
E-mail: rosslandbearaware@live.com