Photo of black bears by Jillian Cooper / Getty Images
Welcome to the neighbourhood!
The Fur-Bearers is teaming up with the Neighbourhood Welcome program to ensure newcomers to select BC communities receive important educational resources on coexisting with black bears. Our pilot started with Port Alberni, and due to the success there, our partnership is growing to include the communities of Squamish, Kelowna, and Penticton.
By including our educational messaging in the welcome packages provided by the Neighbourhood Welcome Program, we can directly provide valuable education on coexisting with black bears to new residents across the province.
What is the Neighbourhood Welcome Program?
Moving to a new community can be both exciting and overwhelming. To make the transition smoother, the Neighbourhood Welcome program is designed to greet and assist new residents, ensuring they feel at home from day one. This initiative involves providing a welcome package filled with essential information about local services, businesses, amenities, and community events. Community representatives personally welcome newcomers, offering a friendly face and a personal touch.
By providing educational materials on coexisting with black bears, we are helping new residents learn about BC’s majestic bears and how to keep them safe. Here’s some of the feedback we’ve received so far:
We're thrilled to partner with The Fur-Bearers as part of the Neighbourhood Welcome Program in Squamish! Their dedication to promoting coexistence with wildlife and providing valuable resources and education is a perfect fit for our community. Their contributions enrich our welcome packages, helping new residents live harmoniously with the incredible wildlife that surrounds us.
We’re delighted to help distribute educational materials about black bears in Kelowna and Penticton as we have seen a rise in bear and other wild animal activity in our urban areas, so this information is so important even for people who have lived here for a long time. Having this information in our Welcome Packages makes it easy to break the ice and talk about such an important issue. We are happy to share this on our Social Media pages as well so that we can reach even more people. Learning to safely share our space means being respectful of wildlife and creating safe places for all to live should be a priority.
The Fur-Bearers offers numerous FREE coexistence resources to communities across Canada. Click here to see some of what you can order today!
