The Bear Awareness and Safety course is a must-have for any worker who may experience human-wildlife encounters. This course, which can be taken separately from the Environmental Monitoring Certificate, is commonly used by employers to train staff who work outdoors in proximity to bear habitats.

The Bear Awareness and Safety course introduces students to a wide range of bear safety techniques for preventing unwanted encounters with bears. Students learn the practical and effective knowledge about industry and community bear management protocols.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify black bears and grizzly bears based on their characteristic features
• Understand human-bear conflicts and define fight and flight
• Learn the general characteristics of grizzly bears and black bears
• Differentiate between human-habituated bears and food-conditioned bears
• Explain the various ways in which bears communicate
• Identify a bluff charge, a defensive attack, and a predatory attack
• Understand the advantages of using bear spray over firearms and learn when and how to use bear spray

This course is one of 10 courses that make up the Environmental Monitoring Online Certificate (EMC). Students have the option to enrol in individual courses without having to complete the Environmental Monitoring Certificate.