By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
A new proposal has emerged calling on the City of Burnaby to pass a bylaw deterring the public from feeding wildlife. The movement is spearheaded by The Fur-Bearers, a Canadian charity that aims to advance education and uphold laws around the welfare of animals in both urban and rural environments. SFU worked in partnership with the organization to curb the issue on the Burnaby campus, and they have written a letter of support for the proposal.
Although the provincial Wildlife Act criminalizes the feeding of species such as cougars, bears, coyotes, and wolves, it does not include provisions for other wild animals, like raccoons. The feeding of raccoons has proven to be a particular problem on Burnaby Mountain, where SFU authorities have received over 100 complaints in the past two years. A recent incident on Burnaby Mountain involved a food-conditioned bear that lunged close to a crowd of people, and was later killed by park officials.
The Peak spoke with Tijana Selak, wildlife campaigns and advocacy manager for The Fur-Bearers, who said:
“Wildlife feeding has proven to lead to dependency, risky animal behaviour, zoonotic disease spread, and in many cases, food-conditioned animals being killed if they’re deemed a risk to public safety.”
— Tijana Selak, wildlife campaigns and advocacy manager for The Fur-Bears
Dependency makes animals more vulnerable when their ecological circumstances change. It also makes them susceptible to malnutrition, as human food is often not suitable for their diets. Additionally, when large groups of animals rely on a human-dependent food chain, it can lead to crowding, increasing the risk of disease transmission and fatality for large segments of the ecosystem.
Selak pointed out that no specific details have been drafted yet, as the organization is waiting until the City of Burnaby decides to move forward with the bylaw.
On the Burnaby campus, past campaigns were launched to deter members of the public from feeding wild animals. Selak points out that while education can be a critical first step in tackling the issue, it has proven ineffective in the long-term: “Research shows that education without enforcement is rarely enough to deter people from feeding wildlife.”
In a press release from The Fur-Bearers, SFU echoed that “enforcement action is necessary to curb the behaviour and prevent the issue from growing.”
“A wildlife feeding bylaw provides a clear standard for the public to follow,” said Selak. “Having that framework in place gives the City an opportunity to intervene before the feeding escalates into serious issues.” She stated that “the aim is to protect both people and wildlife by promoting responsible behaviour.”
In the case of interacting with wild animals on campus, Selak said to “never feed wildlife, secure your food and garbage, remove attractants, and keep a respectful distance.”
