The Conservation Officer Service is reminding residents to be bear aware as they start coming out of hibernation.
It is expected that there will be more bear activity as the weather warms up in the coming weeks.
According to Conservation Officer Ryan Caldwell, it is common to see bears in the Smithers area especially where there is a lot of green space.
He said one thing to be mindful of is attractant management.
“Garbage is the number one attractant sighted for us in all of our reports, it’s super easy for them to get so, just securing your garbage whether that’s in your garage until the morning of garbage day or bringing it directly to the dump,” Caldwell said.
He added other attractants include pet food, barbeques and bird feeders.
Caldwell also said where to be mindful of bear activity.
“Outdoors anywhere really, it’s not uncommon to see bears even close to Town but generally they are using greenspace and treed areas so, anytime you’re outside you may run into a bear but, most of the time they are more scared of you then anything,”
He added that if at any time there are concerns from the public to call the Report All Poachers and Polluters phone line.