Photo: Contributed

A bear trap set up along Aberdeen Road in Glenrosa.

The BC Conservation Officer Service has set a bear trap along Aberdeen Road in Glenrosa.

They’re hoping to capture a bear that was seen wandering the grounds of Webber Road Elementary School as children were arriving at school.

“We had numerous calls about a bear in garbage as well as two sightings this morning right in the school playground,” said conservation officer Glen Small.

He points out that since May, the BCCOS has received 97 calls for conflicts with bears within West Kelowna.

“The Glenrosa area tends to be our higher call volume area just because of the ravine that runs up that way. The bears use it as a travel corridor.”

Small says there’s no guarantee the trap will be successful because there are a lot of other unnatural attractants right now, such as garbage, bird seed and ripe fruit left on or under trees.

“That tends to be our biggest conflict in the fall within the Okanagan. The fruit is the biggest issue in the fall, and then second would be the garbage.”

Bear sightings usually escalates in the fall as the animals venture far and wide looking for high calorie foods to bulk up on before going into hibernation. That’s why it’s even more important at this time of year to remove attractants like those ripe apples, pears, plums and other sweet treats that draw wildlife to your yards.

To report a human-wildlife conflict contact the RAPP line.

Photo: Contributed

Conservation Officers installing a bear trap near the ravine along Aberdeen Road after a bear was spotted in the playground at Webber Road Elementary in West Kelowna.