What kind of bears in ontario

In areas where humans and bears live in close proximity, bears may alter their behaviour, becoming more nocturnal in order to avoid human encounters. Human Encounters. Although bears are shy and tend to avoid contact with humans - if they have not become habituated - human-bear encounters are not uncommon, especially when humans recreate - hiking, canoeing and camping - in bear country.

Nevertheless, bear attacks are extremely rare, and there are only 12 recorded cases of people being killed by black bears in Ontario in the past years.

As we explained in a previous post , there is no exact science about what to do if you run into any wild animal. That being said there are some prominent rules of thumb for how to act when you encounter a black bear:. Stand your ground, speak slowly and firmly, and back away while keeping the bear in sight. If you have bear spray, release the lock and be prepared to use it best to read bear spray instructions prior to starting your excursion.

Before travelling overnight in bear country make sure you have reviewed basic tactics to prevent human-bear conflicts. Prepare a system for storing all food, garbage, and smelly items in sealed bags, far away from your tent, preferably, downwind and in a bear-locker or hanging bag.

More tips on bear-safe behaviour in Ontario. Ontario's Black Bears. The different types of bears were not seen together, but were found to be in the same areas. Douglas Clark, of the University of Saskatchewan, is a co-author of the report. He said there is evidence grizzly bears are in the midst of a range expansion in the north of Canada.

He said although he is not aware of any research on grizzly bears in northern Ontario, he has come across at least one memorable report of them in the province. And last year, yet another bear turned up. Black bears live primarily in northern Ontario, but in there were frequent sightings in the province's more densely populated southern regions. And then, for a period of time — 40 years, I'd say — we had nothing.

Now, all of a sudden, we're starting to see them again. Trick blames drought conditions for a bad berry crop in , which sent bears wandering south to find the nourishment needed to prepare for hibernation. A report from the Ministry of Natural Resource's Nuisance Bear Review Committee supports Trick's theory, noting that bears will migrate more than km to eat and that the availability of their preferred foods is inconsistent from year to year.

Some face longer treks than others. Climate Watch Shorts: Polar bears on the brink. An increase in sightings may provide insight into the state of the bears' habitat and range, but Mike McIntosh, founder and president of Bear With Us, a sanctuary in Sprucedale, says it tells us nothing about their numbers.

And from my experience of releasing well over bears since I started this, and tagging a lot of them, I know that they wander.