A young black bear decided to visit Central Park in Nipawin on the first day of school. (Facebook/Mike Miskk)

By Susan McNeil

Bear school

Bear not welcome at Central Park School in Nipawin

Sep 8, 2023 | 12:46 PM

Provincial conservation officers said a young black bear that was spotted at Central Park School in Nipawin on the first day of class was shot by responders.

Inspector Brett Diemert, with the Conservation Officer Service (part of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety) said the bear presented a hazard to the community because it was right in the middle of town.

“It’s kind of a core area of town and it was the first day of school back,” said Diemert. “We were kind of limited with what we could do there from a public safety standpoint.”

The school holds a daycare, Grades 1 to 3, the community library and college all in one building.

Students had already been dismissed from school, but the bear was in the area at about 4 p.m. so officers decided to put it down.

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RCMP officers were also called to help contain the animal to reduce the risk to the public.

Diemert said bears are very active in the fall and are trying to get enough nutrition to hibernate through the winter.

At the same time, the berry crop is mostly done, and young bears are being pushed away by their mothers.

“This bear was a young bear so this would have been the first year that bear would have been denning up toward fall, denning up by itself,” Diemert explained.

This is not the first time a bear has made its way into the community as Nipawin has a healthy population of the animals

Diemert said one thing the community can do is reduce the reasons a bear might come into town, such as bird feeders, which are a big attractant for bears.

Garbage waste, crab apples from trees and other edibles can all appeal to a hungry bear.

“People can help by reducing that overall attractant. The bear’s just out looking for food,” Diemert said.

While there has been an uptick in the number of incidents of bears making their way to where the people are, it’s not unusually high.

Bear sightings have also happened around Prince Albert, Candle Lake area and Hudson Bay, with residents there estimating at least three bears were in the community.

People encountering bears should stay calm, back away slowly and detour around the bear. You can even talk to them in low tones.

Bears have bad vision but an excellent sense of smell so they will sniff around to find out what is there.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com