Food service operations such as restaurants, fast food establishments and highway snack bars often have substantial amounts of garbage behind their buildings or stored nearby. Black bears are attracted to the smell of human food and garbage, and often come around foraging for an easy meal. It's wise to take steps to prevent this from happening.
What your food business can do:
- Avoid stockpiling garbage – including edible oils
- Use bear-resistant containers wherever possible and secure the lids at all times
- Lock dumpster lids every night or use containers that are self-locking Empty garbage containers frequently
- Put garbage out on the morning of collection day, not the night before
- If your business takes its own garbage to the dump, make sure that it is stored behind securely closed doors or in a bearresistant container, and take it to the dump frequently
- Clean your garbage containers frequently and thoroughly. Pay particular attention to storage and disposal of edible oils and greases, and use disinfectant to eliminate odours
- Share this information with your staff
- Encourage customers to use garbage containers, and to not leave scraps or garbage on the ground
Download a PDF version of this fact sheet.
TO REPORT BEAR PROBLEMS: contact the Bear Reporting Line at:
1-866-514-2327 (TTY) 705 945-7641
In a life-threatening emergency, call your local police or 911.
