Banner photo credit: US National Park Service

Elk Safety

Most people are primarily concerned about bear encounters, however, the Lower Sunshine Coast supports a population of elk; thriving and numerous in some locales. Statistically, injuries from elk encounters far outnumber those from bears, most importantly, reactions and methods of staying safe differ from bears encounters.

It’s Not The Bears

New Conflict Research Challenges Long-Held Beliefs

“When people imagine negative wildlife encounters in Canadian national parks, they may picture predators like grizzly bears or wolves. But based on new research, when it comes to aggressive encounters between people and wildlife, the species most frequently involved might surprise you: elk.
Elk top the list. Among the aggressive encounters analyzed in a study, elk were the species most frequently involved, accounting for 63% of reported incidents. Grizzly bears accounted for 14%, black bears for 13%, mule deer for 7%, and coyotes for only 3%. These numbers reflect how the reported encounters were distributed among species, not the likelihood that an encounter with that species would become aggressive.” The Fur Bearers