Jan Fischer / Staff reporter
May 18, in the middle of period 1, Gleneagle was put into a shelter in place emergency response, yet this time is was not a drill – instead it was because there was a bear on campus. The specific reason for the bear’s visit was not really clear but it was probably looking for food as it was largely staying in the back parking lot near the garbage dumpster.
When a bear is seen on the campus the shelter in place rules apply, which is used when it is necessary to secure a school from an emergency situation occurring outside the school. The exterior doors are locked and monitored to allow students and staff to enter but otherwise the doors remain locked. This time the bear was unfortunately on the campus during lunchtime, therefore students had to stay in school and were not allowed to leave school, or for example to go to 7-Eleven. For the majority of students, this was no problem. But on the other hand these consequences were incomprehensible for some, who could not understand why to stay in the building and were upset about it.
On the other hand, the consequences for bears are much worse. The Government of British Columbia says: “Every year hundreds, and in some years over a thousand, bears are destroyed as a result of conflicts between people and bears.” According to scientists, bears that enter urban areas face a number of threats, including traffic danger and the possibility of being euthanized or killed due to public danger. Some also die from other urban factors, like accidental poisoning or vehicle strikes.
In this case an British Columbia Conservation Officer came to the school, who handles the situation and decides if the bear is not dangerous or weather it has to be tranquilizes and brought back in the forest. When nothing helps and the bear is extremely aggressive, it has to be killed.
Now the question arises, how to prevent the bears from coming on the campus? Jaedin Rajoo, grade 12, answers: “Just put the garbage in trash cans!” All around the campus there are several bear resistant trash cans provided so that trash shouldn’t lay around at all.
Bears have found cities especially welcoming and there are several reasons why bears are coming. Many have been forced out of their natural habitat by development, and an abundance of food and lack of predators make cities a good home.
Now, everybody’s goal should be to put garbage away properly, because when the bear comes more often to the school it might gets killed.
Sources:
Maintaining School Safety
Black Bears Adapting to City Living, Study Says – National Geographic