In this episode, you will hear from Bob Hansen, who is the pacific rim coordinator of WildSafeBC. Bob was described to me as the “bear expert” of the west coast of Vancouver Island and as I spoke with him, I found this to be true. If you find yourself fearful of wildlife encounters, you should listen to Bob in this episode.
I wanted to bring this episode because as a resident of this magnificent west coast wilderness, I commonly hear people asking questions about bears in the mountains. Wanting to equip myself with a greater understanding, I started to ask questions of anyone I could find who knew more than me about bears. The result is that the more I learned, the less fear I had. Not that anyone wants to be face to face with a bear, but at least I understood their behaviour better, and this understanding will guide my behaviour when I encounter one.
Bob talks about WARP (Wildlife Alert Reporting Program) and encourages all back-country travellers to report any sightings of bear, cougar, or wolf. You can do so at 1-877-952-7277 or on your cell phone at #7277
The following links are mentioned in the podcast:
https://warp.wildsafebc.com
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/pacificrim
