Canadian Occupational Safety

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 13 want to watch, use binoculars instead of trying to get a selfie. All too often folks ignore that," he says. "It's up to humans to recognize that wild ani- mals are wild and because they are wild, they can be unpredictable. It's up to us to use our common sense to avoid any of the risks that may occur as a result of our interference with where they live. That's something we should always remember." All workers who work in animal habitat should receive bear and wildlife safety training and learn how to be perceptive of their surround- ings, says Titchener. "They should be aware that, every day when they go to work in these natural habitats, they're keeping an eye out for wildlife as they work." BEARS The surest way to prevent workers from being harmed by a bear is to train them to know how to avoid an encounter in the first place, says Frank Ritcey, provincial co-ordinator at Kamloops, B.C.-based WildSafeBC. Remember that bears, like other ani- mals, generally don't want to come in contact with people and, when given warning of humans approaching, will move away on their own, he says. While watching out for bears, work- ers should be able to recognize and look for signs that they are in the area: Overturned logs, diggings, bear scat (droppings) and fresh claw marks on trees. Companies can make use of wildlife alert programs; for example, W hether they work in a big city or remote wil- derness, many workers live and work around animals. Encounters with wild ani- mals have gone up in recent decades and as humans seek to occupy more of their habitat, incidents can only be expected to rise further. Other animals, such as domestic dogs, cannot be avoided by workers who, for example, deliver packages or mail in residential areas. By knowing why wild and domestic animals strike out at humans and what to do to avoid animals in the first place, workers can limit the possibility of an encounter and of being injured. It's important for workers to always remember that, by nature, most wild animals want to avoid humans, says Chris Baldwin, a manager of conser vation ser vices in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Fisheries and Land Resources. Certainly, there are exceptions. Hungr y, diseased or injured ani- mals as well as animals that have become habituated to humans can lose their intuition — their natural avoidance triggers — and do things they wouldn't normally do, includ- ing approaching a human. But in most cases, animals are very fearful of humans and do everything they can to avoid us, he says. Many of the conflicts are caused by humans, often because we unin- tentionally attract them. Animals are drawn to work sites by the food and waste humans leave exposed. On work sites, food should be kept tightly stored and garbage put away in double plastic bags or animal-resistant bins. We also inadvertently create areas that draw in carnivores, says Kim Titchener, founder of Edmonton- based Bear Safety and More. When we clear the land and create open, grassy areas, we attract carnivores who want to feed on berry bushes and grasses and on the prey species that are also drawn to the new open areas. These cleared areas also provide new path- ways for animals. "Wildlife like the path of least resis- tance: They're not going to expend calories walking through thick muskeg, wetlands and thick forest when there's a nice, clear path like a power line. They will stick to the power line; they'll go down the linear feature that's an easier path," she says. Wild animals need their space and workers must be careful not to violate it too much, Baldwin says. When they see wild animals, especially younger ones, people tend to want to get closer. But, where there are young animals, the parents are usually nearby and can become quite aggressive, whether they're bears, moose, caribou or another animal. "When animals have offspring, their defensive mechanisms become even greater. Keep your distance. If you WildSafeBC has a program tied into the province's 24-hour hotline. All conflicts with wildlife are recorded on a map people can access on its website, under "WARP" (Wildlife Reporting Alert Program). If bears are known to be in an area, take precau- tions — move the work site or plan a different route to avoid these areas. Whenever bears might be near, work- ers should carry a walking stick to look bigger. Most importantly, they should make noise or blow a whistle to let the animals know they're in the area. "The human voice travels a long way. Bears recognize it, and they know human begins are coming. They will want to get out of the way," Ritcey says. If workers cannot avoid going into bear habitat, such as fishery workers doing salmon surveys, they can mini- mize the risk of encounter by not going there in the evening or early morning when bears are most active. The right way for a worker to react to a bear encounter depends on the bear's behaviour and whether the attack is defensive or non-defensive, Titchener says. In a defensive encoun- ter, more common with grizzly than with black bears, a person surprises the bear. The animal may think it is under attack and will seek to defend its cubs or a food source. The bear will do a lot of huffing and show some aggression. In this case, immediately start backing away slowly and calmly. Get the bear spray ready in case the animal comes towards you. A person who does not have bear spray should lie down and play dead. In a non-defensive attack, much more common with black bears than grizzlies, the bear has no cubs or food source to protect, but it becomes interested in a person out of curios- ity or because the person is carrying food. The bear is not agitated and approaches quietly and calmly. "In this case, you want to stop, stand your ground and show aggression. Try to make yourself look big. Stand up on By Linda Johnson Furry ? friend OR Whether it's dogs guarding their homes or bears searching for food, animals can be unpredictable and lash out at nearby workers

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