Bainbridge talk to focus on reducing human-wildlife conflicts

Bainbridge residents can learn about reducing conflicts with bears and cougars at a wildlife coexistence presentation announced for Thursday, November 12, at 4:30 p.m. at the Bainbridge Island Senior Community Center, 370 Brien Drive SE.

The event announcement identifies Cole Janowski, a regional wildlife conflict specialist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, as a speaker. The program will discuss bear and cougar biology, their roles in local ecosystems, and ways to reduce conflicts between people and wildlife. A panel question-and-answer session is also planned.

The announcement says Janowski will discuss “ways to reduce conflict with the wildlife around us.”

Preventing those conflicts can begin at home. WDFW advises securing garbage, birdseed, pet food, and livestock feed so bears do not learn to associate neighborhoods with easy meals.

“Garbage management and removing attractants is the single best way to reduce human-bear interactions,” WDFW wrote in a report submitted to the Legislature in January 2025.

The agency says prevention can protect people and property while reducing the need to kill bears that become a public-safety risk after growing accustomed to human food sources.

Photo: U.S. Forest Service, via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain). Illustrative black bear photograph; not a Bainbridge Island sighting.