BOW VALLEY – The bears are out and about and the annual Bear Day is back.
Alberta Parks and Bow Valley WildSmart will host Bear Day at the Canmore Nordic Centre day lodge on Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to coincide with Earth Day.
WildSmart educators say the day is a great chance to learn more about the bears in the area and to refresh bear safety knowledge and skills in order to be prepared for the upcoming season, which also coincides with a time of year when visitation starts to pick up.
“We had reports a couple of weeks ago about bears starting to emerge on the landscape,” said Andrew Cotterell, communications and engagement strategist.
“With a lower snowpack and kind of a more moderate end to winter, we should expect to see bears on the landscape pretty much now.”
Indoor and outdoor activities are planned throughout Bear Day, including include bear spray demonstrations, bear safety talks, a bear trapping demonstration, bear awareness hikes (registration required), a kids’ bear story-time and bear-related booths and displays.
Alberta Parks ecologists, park rangers and interpretation staff, conservation officers, Fish and Wildlife officers, Parks Canada public outreach, Town of Canmore, volunteer wildlife ambassadors, bear monitoring and aversive conditioning volunteers will also be on hand to chat.
