{"id":545812,"date":"2026-03-19T02:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T02:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/545812\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T02:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T02:14:10","slug":"black-bear-bluff-charges-2-people-walking-in-squamish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/545812\/","title":{"rendered":"Black bear bluff charges 2 people walking in Squamish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

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Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Conservation officers are warning the public about a black bear encounter in the Sea to Sky region over the weekend, as the animals start to emerge from hibernation. <\/p>\n

Two people were walking in the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary Wildlife Management Area along Spit Road near Government Road when they came within 1.5 metres of a black bear. <\/p>\n

Conservation officer Sasha Zukewich said the incident took place around 5 p.m. Sunday, and the bear bluff charged the individuals. <\/p>\n

“The walkers did an excellent job of keeping their wits about them. They backed away slowly. They yelled. They maintained appropriate posture,” Zukewich said.<\/p>\n

No one was injured, and the bear did not make any physical contact with the two people. <\/p>\n

\"walkingThe Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary Wildlife Management Area is a popular walking area and a well-known spot for bear activity. (Alanna Kelly\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Bears typically come out of hibernation in B.C. sometime in March or April, and this recent encounter signifies their wake-up may be a bit early this year. <\/p>\n

“Of course, temperature and caloric availability are factors that fluctuate year to year,” Zukewich said. “It’s definitely on the earlier side, but the earlier side of normal.”<\/p>\n

What is a bear bluff charge?<\/p>\n

Holly Reisner, the executive director of the North Shore Black Bear Society, said that when a black bear bluff charges, it is asking for space. <\/p>\n

“When a person is too close to a black bear, the black bear has lots of different ways of telling us that we’re too close and basically asking us to back off,” Reisner said.<\/p>\n

People don\u2019t often understand the bear’s body language, she explains. <\/p>\n

“They do lots of things, they might drool [and] that could be a sign of them being nervous, they might paw the ground, they might turn away and ignore the person,” Reisner said. <\/p>\n

When a bear bluff charges, it has no intention of making contact with the person, she said. <\/p>\n

“What they do is they take a few steps really fast towards you, and then they stop,” Reisner said. “It can be very scary for a person.”<\/p>\n

\"AA black bear roots through a garbage can in Squamish, B.C., in an undated photo. (Submitted by Brian Aikens)<\/p>\n

She described black bears as calm and peaceful animals. <\/p>\n

“I think the biggest misconception is that people will think that that bear’s got aggressive intentions against humans, and in general, black bears really don’t,” Reisner said. <\/p>\n

“Contact between black bears and humans is so rare,” she said, adding that if contact is made, it’s often just a minor scratch. <\/p>\n

Coexisting with bears in areas such as Squamish means making sure the animal can hear you so as not surprise them, she said. <\/p>\n

WATCH | Woman attacked by mother bear while walking dog on Squamish trail:\"\"<\/p>\n

Woman attacked by mother bear while walking dog on Squamish trail<\/p>\n

A recent bear attack on a popular trail in Squamish is prompting a warning from conservation officers. This isn\u2019t the first time it\u2019s happened in the area. Alanna Kelly has more on the attack and why the bear won’t be tracked and killed.<\/p>\n

“The human voice is the best sound tool,” Zukewich said. <\/p>\n

The people who were walking did not have a dog with them, but Zukewich said it’s important to remind people about keeping dogs on leash.<\/p>\n

“The big thing, in Squamish, in the wooded areas particularly close to town, is really hammering home the point about leashing dogs,” Zukewich said. <\/p>\n

“Unfortunately for local wildlife, it can be really distressing and can lead to these kinds of encounters.”<\/p>\n

Managing bear attractants<\/p>\n

Reisner says garbage bins should be regularly cleaned out, and food waste should not go inside them until the morning of collection. <\/p>\n

“They’re really intelligent animals, and they can smell about 20 times better than we can,” Reisner said.<\/p>\n

Another helpful tip is freezing food waste and cleaning bins out with vinegar once in a while. <\/p>\n

Kathy Murray of advocacy group WildSafeBC says springtime is an opportunity to keep wildlife safe. <\/p>\n

“It’s really important to remove anything from your property to disrupt wildlife,” Murray said. “Once wildlife learns to eat human food, there’s no turning back.”<\/p>\n

Anything that could potentially attract bears could also bring in other animals, including rats. <\/p>\n

“Nobody wants rats on their property, so it is our responsibility to ensure critical decisions to manage attractants, and the end result will be a cleaner and safer community for wildlife and people,” Murray said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-545812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}