Yukon College acts to deter campus bear encounters

After six incidents in eight years, Yukon College's Ayamidigut campus in Whitehorse is moving to bear-proof its campus.

The action followsa report prepared by Scott Gilbert, instructor of the college's renewable resources management program, and a student in thatprogram, Andrew Smith.

Using anecdotal information about bear encounters near the college and data from Yukon Environment, Smith and Gilbert made recommendations on how the college could reduce human-bear conflict.

Smith said one thing was very clear from their research:"Whitehorse is a wilderness city. Whitehorse has bear encounters everywhere."

Bear incidents were investigated 16 times in Whitehorse'sMiddle McIntyre Creek area between 2006 and 2014, according to Environment Yukon. Six of those were on or adjacent to the Ayamdigut campus, with one bear killed and three trapped for removal.

Yukon College is located outside of downtown Whitehorse in an area surrounded by greenbelt.

Smith was surprised littleaction had been taken to deter bears sooner, noting that many of the garbage containers on campus were not bear-proof. He said a bear visitto the campus last year that wascaught on social media raised the profile of campus encounters.

The college will moveitswaste and compost receptacles to a centralized area that will be protected by an electric bear fence. In one location, it's planning to replace a conventionaldumpster with a bear-proof one and in Septemberit plans to clear theperiphery of the campus of soapberry bushes, a favourite food source for bears. This has the secondary benefit of improving visibility.

Smith said the college has been moving quickly in response to his and Gilbert's recommendations.

Yukon College said it will spend$4,000 on the initial round of bear-safe activity.

Smith and Gilbert'sreport can be found on the Yukon College website.