As the closure of a popular Ontario campground stretches through the remainder of the season, Parks Canada is shedding new light on what led to the decision and what’s preventing Cyprus Lake Campground from reopening. Bear activity forces campground closure The closure centres around a bear that officials say became accustomed to receiving “non-natural food” from people at Bruce Peninsula National Park. Parks Canada says the bear has since lost its fear of campers and has been displaying dangerous behaviour. Campground staff say situations like this can happen when wildlife gets into human food or garbage that hasn’t been properly stored, or when visitors feed animals. What efforts were made to avoid this? Before closing the campground, Parks Canada says several measures were taken to try to manage the situation. That included ramping up staff and law enforcement patrols during the day and overnight, educating campers about proper food storage and waste disposal, issuing warnings and confiscating items from campsites that were not following the rules. Campground staff also say they used relocation techniques, like loud noise devices, in hopes of discouraging the bear from returning to areas frequented by visitors. Closure extended through fall Despite those measures, the campground will remain closed through Oct. 31. Parks Canada says the extended fall closure will reduce interactions between the bear and visitors and give the animal an opportunity to return to natural food sources. The rest of Bruce Peninsula National Park remains open during the day. Parks Canada says the bear tends to be active at night in the campground, and so far, officials haven’t seen any increased risk in day-use areas.
