2025 will go down as the quietest year for wildlife in the Castlegar area in recent memory.
WildSafeBC co-ordinator Tara Pejski presented her year-end wrap up to city council this week. It’s the fourth year Pejski has been with the organization, and she described it as a “really successful” one.
Pejski presented wildlife reporting stats dating back to 2017, although she said the system has changed over that time.
From 2017-22, WildSafeBC had an internal system where people could report a wildlife sighting online. Between 2017-22, black bear reports ranged from a low of 105 in 2019 to a high of 231 in 2021. Grizzly bear reports ranged from two in 2019 to 20 in 2018. Total wildlife reporting (which also included deer, cougar, elk, coyotes, and other animals) ranged from 163 in 2019 to 317 in 2021.
However, some glitches in the system meant no data is available for 2023. WildSafeBC has since relied on statistics from the BC Conservation Service, which showed in 2024 there were 96 black bear and zero grizzly bear reports, with a total of 154 overall wildlife sightings. This year, there have been 46 black bear reports, six grizzly reports, and 126 overall wildlife sightings.
However, Pejski suspects many people are less likely to report certain animal sightings to conservation officers, because they are under the misimpression that it will automatically lead to the animal being killed.
“That said, we did have really great berry crops up in the mountains. And so across the province, activity in general was a lot quieter than it usually is.”
WildSafeBC tags garbage bins that are put out too early for collection, and those numbers were down too: 81 residential bins and 14 commercial bins tagged in 2025, compared to 140 residential bins and 34 commercial bins tagged in 2024. The number of tickets issued, however, increased to 14 this year from 10 last year.
Pejski said in general Castlegar residents are doing a good job securing their garbage, but there is room for improvement with organics carts and recycle bins.
“A lot of people think, it’s okay to put my organic bin out because it’s just yard waste without realizing that bears don’t know that it’s just yard waste until they rip it open,” she said. “And there’s still a lot of yard waste that is a tasty meal for them.”
Pejski said recycle bins often include food containers that retain smells that bears can detect, even after they are cleaned.
She added the Harvest Match program, which pairs up people who have fruit trees with people who are willing to pick fruit, also had a successful year.
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