Bin-busting bears in Tofino and Ucluelet making quick work of bear-resistant garbage cans
Officials say the bears have switched from breaking into sheds and cars to get at food to burglarizing bins
About a dozen smarter-than-your-average bears have learned how to burglarize the bear-resistant garbage bins used by residents in Tofino and Ucluelet, according to wildlife officials.
Bob Hansen with WildSafe B.C.'s Pacific Rim chapter says the clever mammals started figuring out how to crack open the brass carabiners used to lock the lids closed soon after the bins were introduced by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District in 2022.
"Bears are very adept at problem-solving," said Hansen. "There's an internal spring in the carabiner, and they figured out how to twist them and break that spring."
So far this year, 121 of the brass carabiners have needed replacing, according to a WildSafe report to the Tofino mayor and council. But busting locks to get at an easy meal is only part of the story.
Some bears have also figured out how to break the plastic lids of the bins, while others have been dragging the bins off into the woods where they can work for hours unbothered to get at whatever attractant is inside.
Tofino Mayor Dan Law says the resourcefulness and food drive of bears should never be underestimated.
"We spend our days reading books and checking out the internet. They spend every waking hour trying to feed themselves. If they can find a way to break into a garbage can, they will," he said.
Tyee Wilson Jack said the metal garbage cans the community of Hitacu used to use were superior to the new bins.
"The bears have broken so many of these [plastic] cans," he said. "They'll pull the can on its side, and the bear will bounce on it with his front legs. That's how he breaks the lid open. Once they get the routine, they'll do it over and over."
A WildSafe report said food-conditioned bears in the area — also known as "conflict bears" — have shifted focus in the past two years away from breaking into sheds and vehicles to breaking into garbage bins.
"For example, in 2021-2022, close to 100 sheds and 45 vehicles were broken into. In 2023-2024, those numbers were seven sheds and three vehicles," reads the report. "In the first full year of the [garbage] cart system [in] 2023, 66 carts were broken into. This year so far, 140 carts have been broken into, and that number is going up daily."
Law says area residents need to do better by the bears by using replacement steel carabiners to secure lids and by anchoring bins so they can't be dragged away.
'We will see bears euthanized'
"If the bears continue to be able to access garbage, then it's going to be a significant problem, and next year in the spring, we will see bears euthanized," said Law.
"Once a certain bear figures out how to drag that cart away and bust open the lid... that's going to be a problem. That's a conditioned bear. And a conditioned bear is a dead bear."
WildSafe estimates 80 per cent of the bins in the region are not being adequately secured or anchored. According to Hansen, the best way to stop a bear from dragging away your bin is to pass a chain or cable through the bin handle that is attached to something solid.
But even chained bins aren't always safe from a bear on a mission.
Ucluelet resident Taylor Godolphin says she is often woken up in the early morning hours by a bear trying to get into bins secured with chains outside her home.
"Unfortunately, the bear has been able to rip [the bin] off the chain. And I've heard that from a lot of other residents," she said. "Especially in a reoccurring situation where they've gotten in once, and they keep coming back."
Hansen said recommendations this winter to reverse the increase in bin-busting bears are for residents to take the extra steps of switching to steel carabiners and making sure to anchor their bins.
"Those two measures taken together will hopefully break this cycle that we seem to be in at the moment," he said.
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with files from Maryse Zeidler