Courtesy Bear Smart Durango/Bear Smart will host on online bear aware series beginning May 26.
Bear Smart Durango will host a series of live online presentations beginning May 26.
The presentations will give residents a better understanding of black bears, best practices to reduce human-bear conflict, being safe in bear country and steps to make the area safe for people and bears.
All presentations will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m., allowing ample time for questions from audience members. This educational series is sponsored by The Durango Herald.
The schedule includes:
- May 16: Daryl Ratajczak will present “The Language of Bears: How Bears Communicate with us Through Vocalizations and Body Posturing.”
- June 3: Gillian Sanders will present “Electric Fencing to Protect Chickens, Bees, Small Livestock and fruit trees from bears.”
- June 10: Janel Scharhag will present “Non-fatal Attacks by Black Bears in the Lower United States, 2000-17.”
- June 16: John Hechtel will present “Staying Safe In Bear Country.” Attendees are asked to watch the YouTube video “Staying Safe in Bear Country” (30:35) before the talk. A Q&A session will be held after the talk.
- June 23: Colorado Parks and Wildlife will present “Being bear aware helps keep our communities and bears safe.”
For more information, visit www.bearsmartdurango.org/bear-smart-online-speaker-series.
