iN VIDEO: Black bear spotted wandering through Kelowna

A small black bear got the feel for city life as it was spotted wandering around Kelowna last night.

Rob Wallace recorded the bear hanging around Baron Road, June 15. His sister Michelle Wallace said the bear was seen around 9:20 p.m. 

The video shows the bear climbing a fence before casually strolling across the road.

The American black bear is the most common and widely distributed of the three bears found in Canada, and according to WildSafeBC, has some of the highest populations of black bears in the world with estimates ranging from 120,000 to 150,000 bears.

Black bears account for 14,000 to 25,000 calls per year to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service. Bears are most active from April to November, but in milder climates, or where they are continuously finding food, bears may not go into their dens, WildSafeBC said.

While most bear encounters result in the bear leaving an area, they can become more assertive or destructive when they have learned to associate humans and their activities with food, according to the service.

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