A low berry crop in the forests of the Yukon is sending more bears into urban areas over the past month, particularly here in Whitehorse.

Jim Welsh, a spokesperson for the Yukon conservation officers branch, spoke to the Star Wednesday about the situation that has rattled many people on social media and become one of the main talking points in town.

Welsh said he was just in the bush last weekend and noticed the berry crop is not plentiful this year, which will put more stress on bears to find a food source to compensate.

At this time of year, bears become basically 24/7 eating machines as hyperphagia sets in.

That’s a condition driving the bear to become gluttons as they strive to put on as much fat as possible to prepare for winter hibernation,

“The berry crop is very low,” Welsh said. “There’s been a lot of dry weather.”

One of the targets for bears in a situation such as this are ornamental berry bushes in residential neighbourhoods.

Unlike their wild counterparts, some of those bushes have had a very good growing season, making them irresistible to bears that can’t find much of anything else to eat.

“This is a really critical time (for homeowners) to pick their berries and to clean up attractants around their yards, such as compost and particularly barbecues,” Welsh said.

The numbers being reported aren’t exceptional this year, he said.

It happens from time to time when natural supplies of food run out for wild animals.

One of the animals garnering the most attention is a black bear in the Whistle Bend neighbourhood over the past week or more.

Many photos of this bear have been posted on social media, and it’s one that has been previously collared and relocated, Welsh said.

Relocation was unsuccessful with this bear, as is often the case, Welsh said.

Bears have a strong homing system, and it’s often impossible to relocate them far enough away to prevent their return.

Many people in the general public erroneously believe relocation works better than it does, Welsh said.

It’s a traumatic process for the bear, and an expensive one in terms of staff resources and general cost.

The Whistle Bend bear, he added, is a great example of a bear showing good behaviour. It hasn’t shown any sign of aggression so far, and is generally keeping its distance from people.

“It hasn’t caused any problems,” he said.

There is a female black bear with two cubs that are currently causing more problems in the Mt. Sima area.

Welsh said that family is breaking into garbage, which isn’t a good sign.

He’s asking the public to help out with the situation by minimizing attractants and making it more difficult to find food in the area.

“We really want to have people help out,” he said.

Euthanizing a bear is a measure of last resort, Welsh said.

So far, 23 bears across the Yukon have been put down this year.

He put on a free course on bear safety for the public on Thursday at the Fireweed Market in Whitehorse.