Burnaby residents in denial about living in bear country need to take a look at the stats – and the body count – according to the B.C. Conservation Service.

Bears have barely begun to emerge from hibernation, and one garbage-habituated bear has already had to be destroyed in the city, according to the service.

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The male black bear was trapped near Robert Burnaby Park and euthanized on April 12 after seven garbage complaints.

“We have to take into consideration the risk to public safety; that’s our number one consideration,” conservation officer Clayton Debruin told the NOW. “We don’t get into the job to destroy wildlife, but we have a responsibility to respond and reduce the risk that food-conditioned and habituated bears present.”

The conservation service got 700 bear-related calls from Burnaby last year, mostly centred around the Burnaby Mountain and Burnaby Lake areas, but Debruin said many residents still think warnings about securing garbage and other bears attractants don’t apply to them.

“I can assure them, if they live around Burnaby Mountain or Burnaby Lake, there are bears amongst them – it’s just that they aren’t aware,” he said. “Sometimes people will attribute their garbage being tipped over to the wind or small critters, but, in fact, many a time, it is as a result of bears accessing their garbage.”

Skeptics should check out WildSafeBC’s online (Wildlife Alert Reporting Program) WARP map at warp.wildsafebc.com to see what wildlife is being reported in their neighbourhoods, he said.

As bears continue to emerge from hibernation seeking food, Debruin said the public needs to do its part to manage attractants, like garbage, organic waste, barbecue grills and bird feeders.

The biggest problem by far, however, is unsecured garbage, he said.

The conservation service recommends storing garbage and organic waste in a garage or shed and freezing smelly materials, like meat waste, until pickup day.

“I, for one, think we are very privileged to have the wildlife around our area,” Debruin said. “It’s a sign of a healthy ecosystem, but, if we want to continue enjoying seeing wildlife, we have to obviously learn how to coexist with them.”