iN VIDEO: Grizzly bears are closer than you think in the Okanagan

A decade ago, the footage on Lake Country outdoorsman Cory Jmaeff’s trail cameras didn’t have grizzly bears on it, but in recent years the bears have become a regular feature.

Jmaeff’s network of trail cameras are set up within a half hour of city centres in the Central and North Okanagan. In recent years his cameras have captured grizzly bear activity, particularly on the east side of Okanagan Lake behind Kelowna, Lake Country, Vernon, Cherryville and Lumby.

“A lot of people in Kelowna would be surprised to know grizzly bears all around us now,” he said. “I’m seeing grizzlies on my cameras at least once every year in each location.”

On June 15, a mother grizzly bear near Oyama Lake stopped in front of trail camera for a long scratch while her cubs rolled around in the grass.

“The cubs were playing in the grass and watching her, it was really cool,” he said. “Unfortunately, after the bears left a herd of cows came around and ate all the grass and my camera battery drained taking videos of them. A pack of grey and black wolves showed up and I only got a one second video of them because the cows killed my battery.”

Different groups have been trying to increase the grizzly bear population in the Okanagan for three decades. Last year, the Okanagan Nation Alliance announced it’s helping facilitate the Joint Nations Grizzly Bear Initiative to bring grizzlies back to the North Cascades region, allowing the bears to naturally infill into the Okanagan. The Greater North Cascades Ecosystem runs from the Fraser River in B.C. south to Stevens Pass in Washington.  

In a July 19 interview with iNFOnews, Wildlife Program Lead for the Okanagan Nation Alliance Mackenzie Clark said the program hopes to bring some bears to the region sometime next year. 

“We’re trying to get all of our ducks in a row to potentially either move bears at the end of this year, but I’m thinking that it’ll probably be next year, maybe in the spring or fall,” Clark said.

Jmaeff has been outdoors hunting, fishing and photographing wildlife for almost three decades. He recently started an Okanagan Wildlife page on Facebook to celebrate and learn about wildlife through photography, videos and educational content.