A B.C. conservation officer is warning residents of Metro Vancouver to keep all garbage and food products inside as black bears come out of hibernation and go in search of food.
Bear sightings in recent weeks in Burnaby, Surrey, Langley and Vancouver have led Conservation Officer Jack Trudgian to warn residents against attracting bears with any kind of food.
"Put your garbage out on the day of pick-up, pick your fruit trees, clean your barbeques," Trudgian told CTV News. "You don't need to put bird feeders out, keep your cat food in, dog food in, anything that might attract the bears. When they realize they're not a food source, they'll go back."
A heavy snowpack that lasted late into the spring on the surrounding mountains, and then a rapid rise in temperatures, caused many of the region's bears to come out of hibernation at the same time.
"Usually, due to the weather, the bears will come out gradually," said Trudgian. "This year it got warm all at once ... We're getting calls all day long in the last little while."
The late rise in temperatures means wild berries, a food source for bears, are ripening later this year as well, Trudgian said.
The mother bear and her two cubs caught in Burnaby on Thursday were released near Harrison Mills on Friday afternoon, Trudgian said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's St.John Alexander
