It's time to ensure you secure all household attractants as bears emerge from their winter hibernation.
COQUITLAM, B.C., March 12, 2025 – Now is the time to secure household attractants, ensuring bears seek natural food sources as they emerge from their winter hibernation.
Be a Bear Smart Household
With bears waking up hungry from their winter denning, the City is asking all households to follow our Bear Smart guidelines:
- Store Garbage Carts, Green Carts and recycling in a garage or fully-enclosed structure inaccessible to wildlife, such as a heavy-duty shed or chain link fence with a roof.
- Green Cart clips are not bear proof and should not be relied on to secure carts outside.
- Freeze meat and strong-smelling food scraps until collection day.
- Put all food scraps in the Green Cart, not the Garbage Cart.
- Place carts and recycling at the curb after 5:30 a.m. on collection day.
- Keep your Green Cart and Garbage Cart clean between collection days.
- Keep freezers and refrigerators indoors.
- Keep pet food indoors.
- Remove or suspend bird feeders and clean up fallen seed.
- Limit outdoor composting to yard waste and plant trimmings.
- Keep barbeques clean.
- Keep vehicles free of food, with windows closed and doors locked.
Unsecured Attractants Put Bears and their Cubs at Risk
Unsecured garbage poses a threat to bears as they have a strong sense of smell and even just one household’s garbage can be a wildlife attractant. Once a bear gains access to garbage or unnatural food sources on your property, it can become habituated and continue to return to the same area to look for a meal.
Mother bears will soon be teaching their newborn cubs how to search for food, and if their first foraging experience is with garbage and other household attractants, the cubs will not learn how to look for natural food sources in their habitat.
Making sure bears and cubs do not find an easy meal in your neighbourhood and property will help teach and encourage them to forage in natural areas rather than backyards.
Tips to Prevent Human Wildlife Conflict
In addition to securing wildlife attractants on your property, it is crucial to take steps to prevent human-wildlife interactions in order to keep both yourself and your pets safe. This includes:
- Keeping cats indoors
- Walking dogs on a short leash
- Supervising your dog while off-leash in a designated off-leash area
If you do encounter a wildlife on your property:
- Stop and remain calm—often the wildlife is just passing through and will simply move on if it finds no food source
- Do not scream or run
- Make yourself look big
- Talk in a low and calm voice while backing away slowly
- Bring pets and children into the house
Reporting Wildlife Concerns
To report wildlife attractants, including curbside cart being set out the night before collection, call the City at 604-927-3580 or email bylawenforcement@coquitlam.ca.
To report a conflict with wildlife that threatens public safety or causes property damage, call the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
As one of 12 official Bear Smart communities in B.C., Coquitlam uses a mix of education and enforcement to raise awareness and make sure everyone is doing their part to keep both bears and humans safe.
Learn more about bear safety and City regulations at coquitlam.ca/BearSmart.
Media contacts
Caresse Selk
Senior Manager, Environment
UrbanWildlife@coquitlam.ca
604-927-3500
Aaron Hilgerdenaar
Senior Manager, Bylaw Services
bylawenforcement@coquitlam.ca
604-927-3580
We acknowledge with gratitude and respect that the name Coquitlam was derived from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (HUN-kuh-MEE-num) word kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (kwee-KWET-lum) meaning “Red Fish Up the River”. The City is honoured to be located on the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm traditional and ancestral lands, including those parts that were historically shared with the q̓ic̓əy̓ (kat-zee), and other Coast Salish Peoples.