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An Alberta conservation officer is linking the number of recent bear encounters with the abundance of berries this season.

READ MORE: ‘He chased the bear off her’: Alberta campground owner says son ran to save hikers

John Paczkowski says berry bushes tend to grow near trails and forest edges, and that’s been drawing bears closer to people.

“We’re certainly seeing an elevated number of contacts,” he says. “We’ve had those attacks, and then we’ve had a number of other instances where people are getting close to bears.”

There were two separate bear attacks this past week in the Calgary area.

READ MORE: Bear safety tips: What to do if you spot a bear

Paczkowski says it’s a good idea to make noise as you travel through the back-country to avoid surprising bears.

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“Most of the negative bear experiences that people have are surprise encounters,” he explains. “It’s when you’re quietly going down a trail on a bike, or on foot, and you bump into a bear at close range, and bears don’t like to be surprised. And when they are surprised they might respond aggressively, and that’s where people get into trouble.”

Paczkowski adds if you’re out camping, you want to keep unattended food packed up and out of reach, make sure your pets are leashed, and keep a can of bear spray handy.

With files from CHED