For months northwest BC has been locked into a level five drought right across the region.

As the summer turns into fall increased bear activity is happening in every community from Prince George to Terrace and is some cases ending with a dead bear.

More than 30 black bears have been shot and killed in PG this year so far as more bears move into town looking for food.

Here in the Bulkley valley and Northwest, we’ve seen a lot of bear activity. Mostly eating apples left on the brach all over the valley, due to very little if any, berries in the bush, which is what bears are unusually eating at this time of year in preparation for hibernation. There have been many interactions, but no reported injuries or overly aggressive bears so far. However, in many areas and communities the BC Conservation service is asking residents to only call the CO’s if there is an aggressive bear, due to the high number of calls they’ve been getting all season.

But when a sow, momma bear is killed, and yes it does happen, there are often orphaned cubs that need care. That care usually falls to the Northern Lights Wildlife shelter on the Telkwa High Road, the only full scale bear rehabilitation centre in the world.

They’ve also seen a lot of activity this season, and they are expecting more. Not just because of increased human bear interactions, but also because of the devastating wildfires which has affected thousands of animals and we don’t even know the full scale of injured and orphaned bears yet, as crews continue to move back into areas that have been slammed by wildfires this year.

Today we check-in with Angelika Langen, co-founder of the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter, which currently has 20 young black bears and is expecting to see many more before the year is out.