And so it begins … The Nickel City’s first bear call of the season was made to Greater Sudbury Police on March 22.
A resident of Azilda called the police service to report a bear in a tree.
Last year, the number of bear calls to police were down 46 per cent over 2015, when the GSPS received more than 1,300 calls.
The police and the city both set up bear reporting systems to track and manage bear-related calls. These measures, Chief Paul Pedersen told the city’s Police Services Board, helped reduce the strain on the police service.
In 2015, police responded to 449 calls and had to kill eight of the animals as a result, devoting some 200 staff hours to handling the calls.
If you need to report a bear sighting, you can help by directing your call to the proper channel, GSPS spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn told Sudbury.com today.
To report bear problems, phone the Bear Reporting Line at 1-866-514-2327 (TTY 705-945-7641).
However, if it’s a life-threatening or emergency situation, phone 911.
GSPS also has tips for minimizing the chances of residential bear interactions here.
You can also help track the number and the location of bears within city limits by posting your sighting to the city’s Report-A-Bear service. You can find that here.
