麻豆社国产

There鈥檚 a new wildlife sheriff in town. 

Well, not so much a sheriff, but kind of.

The District and the provincial Conservation Officer Service (COS) have announced a new wildlife safety response officer is on duty in Squamish.

Calvin Rochon鈥檚 role will be to help increase public safety and proactively lower human-wildlife conflicts through education. 

The position is a shared initiative, which means the role is employed by the COS and funded by the District for a five-year term. 

鈥淧rotecting and learning to safely co-exist with wildlife is our responsibility, and it鈥檚 up to us to do our best to keep our wildlife wild,鈥� said Mayor Armand Hurford in a news release. 

鈥淥ne of the easiest and most effective ways to do that is to stop inviting wildlife into our neighbourhoods with garbage and food waste, fruit trees, bird feeders and other attractants. Educating our community is essential to reducing human-wildlife conflict, and the new wildlife safety response officer program will bring additional support and wildlife expertise to our community.鈥�

Rochon will also support the COS, in part by responding to low-risk human-wildlife conflict reports. 

鈥淭he District of 麻豆社国产is working hard to reduce human-wildlife conflicts, implement best practices to secure attractants and prevent the unnecessary killing of bears. The [wildlife safety response officer] program provides invaluable support to these efforts,鈥� said COS Insp. Simon Gravel, who oversees the south coast region. 

鈥淭he new [program] will help ensure public safety by supporting conservation officers through working with residents, stakeholders, Indigenous communities and the media to enhance community engagement and outreach to help keep wildlife wild.鈥�

The District and the COS continue to urge residents to be extra vigilant in keeping attractants out of reach of wild animals following reports of bears and other wildlife sightings throughout the community.

Both organizations ask residents to:

• Store garbage totes in a garage or shed;
• If your trash and organic bins are stored outdoors, anchor them to prevent them from tipping;
• Reduce odours by freezing food scraps and store them in your freezer until collection day;
• Keep totes locked and secured until the morning of collection;
• Place totes curbside only on the morning of collection and never the night before; 
• Rinse all recycling;
• Keep barbecues clean;
• Keep pet food inside or ensure it is inaccessible to bears;
• Ensure bird feeders are inaccessible to bears;
• Avoid seeding with clover, and keep your grass cut and free of dandelions.

To report a broken or damaged tote, contact GFL for a free repair or replacement at 604-892-5604 or .

To report a wildlife attractant bylaw infraction, contact bylaw enforcement at 604-815-5067.

To report wildlife sightings or encounters, contact the 24/7 COS Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline at 1-877-952-7277.