Yukon conservation officers continue their hunt for a wounded bear which was sighted in the city's Porter Creek area last week.

In an interview this morning, Department of Environment spokesperson Dennis Senger said his organization was still searching for the bear shot last Friday and is reminding members of the public to stay out of the area.

Senger's comments this morning follow a similar warning issued Friday after conservation officers lost sight of the bear, which was seen roaming in the green areas between the Northland Trailer Court and Yukon College and the southern green areas of Porter Creek.

'On Friday afternoon, we had some additional staff go into the grounds around the college. We also had a tracking dog and a helicopter circling the area,' Senger said.

'We couldn't find him.'

Senger said although environment officials could not confirm where the bear was, they were continuing their search.

'It will just be a matter of time until we know what we're dealing with,' he said, adding the bear was either dead, still in the area or had moved on.

'It may come back to the garbage, we just don't know,' he said.

Senger said he'd like to remind Whitehorse residents of the importance of not leaving garbage in their backyards as it tends to attract bears.

Once bears become accustomed to viewing garbage as a credible food source, he added, they present a danger to the public.

'This is why we've had a number of bear seminars over the years. This is why the government has spent money putting electrified fences around the garbage dumps.

'We want wild bears to stay wild,' he added.

Yukon conservation officer Kris Gustafson said this morning he and his colleagues were seeking to kill the bear because once a bear becomes a problem, it tends to stay a problem.

'We've had a long history of relocating bears,' he said. 'In the 1980s we relocated a lot of bears.

'Typically when we relocated bears, they will repeat their behaviour despite being relocated,' Gustafson said.

He said in the experience of people in his office, garbage bears, typically teenagers, would either try to go back to the places they had been removed from or repeat their behaviour in a new location.

'The solution is not to attract a bear in the first place,' he said.

Gustafson said last week's bear sighting was the result of improperly stored garbage.

'Once again, one of our officers was put into a situation where they encountered a garbage bear.

'This was a case of improperly stored garbage,' he said of the bear who was seen to be sifting through a dumpster behind Yukon College residences last week.

'If a dumpster isn't sealed properly, they can get into them.'

Dr. Terry Weninger, Yukon College's interim president, said this morning that he had been made aware of the bear problem and has already taken action.

He said he has asked the college's director of administrative services to look into how garbage is being stored and if it is discovered garbage is not being carefully stored, the problem will be corrected.

Gustafson said in nearly 90 per cent of cases where conservation officers are called in after a bear sighting near a populated area, the issue arouse from improper storage of garbage.

'If it isn't properly sealed, they'll find a way to get into it.'

'The first question that people have to ask themselves, is how do you keep your garbage,' he said.

According to the Department of Environment, there are a number of things often located on people's property that can attract bears, including:

• garbage;

• compost;

• propane;

• barbecues;

• animal waste;

• pet foods and bird seed;

• oils;

• fertilizers.

Gustafson said he is aware of cases where bears have lived in close proximity to residential neighbourhoods for years without becoming a problem, only to have one irresponsible resident attract the bear.

'It only takes one person,' he said, 'and suddenly the bear ends up dead.

'Garbage bears are all about food. They are good at searching out highly nutritious food and human food has a lot of calories.'

He said prior to an electric fence being put up around the Whitehorse dump, the bears eating the garbage in the area displayed remarkable growth, and a few problems.

'These bears had tremendous growth. They also had cut paws from the glass and rotten teeth from all the sugar,' he said.

He said in Whitehorse, no neighbourhood should consider themselves immune to bear activity and all residents should be aware that they live in bear country.

He said while bears attacking humans either defensively or offensively was extremely rare, there were a number of things people could do, depending on the situation.

'Defenders, when they are close enough to touch you, are typically protecting a food source or their cubs. Grizzly's are most prone to defensive behaviour,' he said.

He said if a person is near a grizzly who is trying to protect food or its young, it is best to let the bear know that you are not a threat by lying down, curling up and playing dead.

He said if a bear is displaying aggressive behaviour, which includes following and tracking you for several kilometres, chances are it views you as a food source.

He said in the 'very rare' cases where a bear, typically a black bear, views a person as a food source, it is best to let them know that you are not easy prey.

'Through rocks, through a knife, rush towards it, get in a group, try to look larger than you are,' he said. 'Let the bear know that you are not easy prey.'

According to Yukon's hunting regulation estimates, there are currently 6,000-to-7,000 grizzly bears in the territory.

There are an estimated 10,000 black bears.