Are Black Bears Gluten Free?

Finally the sun has begun to shine in Whistler, everyone’s spirits are lifting and people are beginning to smile again, including our friendly neighbours the Black Bears. We are beginning to have sightings about the valley almost daily; the Momma bears with cubs being my favourite. The other morning at work we actually had a huge male black bear come up to the office, walk around the building and then to out the back. I was so excited; I am surprised I managed to remember to grab my camera!!! Here is the footage…

So are black bears actually Gluten Free? Well, I should think so for the most part. Their preferred food is fruit (especially berries), nuts, plants and insect larvae, however they are known as opportunistic eaters and will often indulge on meat and fish. Unfortunately in some areas they also eat garbage that has not been disposed of correctly. This is a very bad habit for bears to get into it as it means they become more confident with humans and a more likely to come into our areas and be considered a threat. As the saying goes ‘a fed bear is a dead bear!’ In Whistler the Whistler Bear Society has been instrumental in educating the community and tourists on how to properly manage bear attractants. We have bear proof bins on all our sidewalks, weekly write ups in the paper talking about each of our local bears individually and active participation by locals to do everything we can to keep our black bear community happy and healthy.For more information on Black Bears in Whistlersee http://www.bearsmart.com/