Bear calls down in Sudbury this summer: MNRF, police

Both the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestryand the Greater Sudbury Police are reporting fewer bear calls this summer.

District manager for the MNRF,Ross Hart, saidthecall volume to the Bear Wise hotline is down by half this year compared to last.

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Specifically, theBear Wise line had600 calls this year between Apr.1 andAug.25.That's downfrom the 1,790 that came in over thesummer of 2015.

Hart said he thinksthere was a better crop of wild blueberries for the bears, so they weren't wandering into neighbourhoods following the scent to garbage, birdfeeders and barbecues.

Hart also attributes much of the decrease in bear calls to education.He saidmorepeople now know how to keep bears away from their property.

And, he saidit's helpful that residents have several avenues to report bear sightings. Those include the MNRFBear Wise phone line, and the city's Report-a-Bear website.

In an emergency, residents can also callpoliceif a bear is threatening someone.

Greater Sudbury Police reported 329 calls regarding bears this summercompared to 1200last summer.

Inspector Mike Chapman saidthe creation of a communication strategy betweenpolice, the city and the MNRF has helped.

He saidthe public is now more aware of which agency to call in specific bear situations.

"In order to not generate as much work for ourdispatcherswe did provide a bear information line, so as a result we received 329 bear calls, but 89 of those calls were deferred to the bear information line where people received information ... onwho to call in regards to their specific situation,"Chapman said.

Hart said recently,there has been a slight spike in bear calls to the various agencies, particularlyover the past week.

He said that's because their natural food sources seem to dwindling with the end of the season,and bears are leftlooking for new food sources.

"The temperature is maybe slightly changing, little chillier at night ...that they have to fatten up and get ready for their hibernation," Hart said.