British Columbia is the birthplace of the Bear Smart program – an approach that's now influencing communities internationally. But across the province, encounters between black bears, grizzlies and people can still lead to bears being killed. We know many of these encounters are preventable. Decades of research have helped us understand why conflicts occur and what communities can do to reduce them. So why isn't this knowledge being put into practice?
Earlier this year, freedom of information requests by The Fur-Bearers revealed a provincial Bear Smart program in disarray. In September, delegates at the Union of BC Municipalities convention called for provincial funding and staffing to be restored. With a provincial election approaching, what happens next remains uncertain, while the consequences for bears continue.
Dr. Lana Ciarniello, a bear researcher whose 30-year career includes helping establish BC's Bear Smart program, joins Defender Radio to discuss the challenges bears face in British Columbia, the policy changes that could give communities and bears a better chance at coexistence, and what her recent research reveals about rehabilitating and releasing orphaned grizzly bears.
SHOW NOTES
Photo by Jillian Cooper / Getty
Dr. Lana Ciarniello at Global Bear Conservation: https://globalbearconservation.org/About/leadership_page/40
Dr. Lana Ciarniello ResearchGate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lana-Ciarniello
Study: Evidence for a metabolic trap and habituation limiting post-release survival of orphaned grizzly bears: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/411161478_Evidence_for_a_metabolic_trap_and_habituation_limiting_post-release_survival_of_orphaned_grizzly_bears
Plain language article on study: https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2026/08/03/orphaned-grizzly-cubs-released-wild-rarely-make-it-improve-chances
The Fur-Bearers article on Bear Smart: https://thefurbearers.com/blog/status-of-bear-smart-surprises-bc/
The Fur-Bearers article on UBCM response: https://thefurbearers.com/blog/clear-message-from-ubcm-reactivate-bear-smart/
Want to suggest topics for Defender Radio? Reach out to us at info@TheFurBearers.com, by visiting DefenderRadio.com or engaging host Michael Howie on social media via Instagram (www.instagram.com/howiemichael) or Facebook (www.Facebook.com/DefenderRadio).
Defender Radio is produced by The Fur-Bearers (www.TheFurBearers.com), a charitable non-partisan organization whose mandate is to advocate on behalf of fur-bearing animals in the wild and in confinement, promote coexistence solutions in communities and protect the habitats of fur-bearing animals across Canada. You can follow The Fur-Bearers on Instagram (www.instagram.com/furbearers), Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/thefurbearers.bsky.social) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FurFree).
