Be Bear Smart Online Speaker Series

Bear Smart Durango is hosting a series of live online presentations – all available from the comfort of your home! These presentations will give residents a better understanding of black bears, best practices in reducing human-bear conflict, being safe in bear country and steps residents can take to make our area safe for both people and bears. All presentations are from 6:30-8 PM, allowing ample time for Q & A’s from audience members. Registration for each presentation is required. This educational series is sponsored by The Durango Herald.

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WED. MAY 26
6:30 PM – 8 PM
Daryl Ratajczak
“The Language of Bears: How bears communicate with us through vocalizations and body posturing.”
View a recording of Daryl’s presentation.

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THU. JUN 3
6:30 PM – 8 PM
Gillian Sanders
“Electric fencing to protect chickens, bees, small livestock and fruit trees from bears.”
View a recording of Gillian’s presentation.

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THU. JUN 10
6:30 PM – 8 PM
Janel Scharhag
“Non-fatal attacks by black bears in the lower United States, 2000-2017”
View a recording of Janel’s presentation.

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WED. JUN 16
6:30 PM – 8 PM
John Hechtel
“Staying Safe In Bear Country”
A pdf on Staying Safe in Bear Country can be downloaded here. View a recording of John’s presentation here.

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WED. JUN 23
6:30 PM – 8 PM
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
“Being Bear Aware helps keep our communities and bears safe”
View a recording of Colorado Parks & Wildlife’s presentation here.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Daryl Ratajczak is the former Black Bear Coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the first full-time manager of the Appalachian Bear Rescue, and principal founder of Wildlife For You.

Gillian Sanders has 20 years field experience preventing and mitigating grizzly and black bear conflicts in the rich bear habitats of British Columbia, Canada. She produced the YouTube video “How To Electric Fence For Bears” (9:45).

Janel Scharhag is a wildlife biologist with USDA, and before that, she researched and managed human-bear interactions with UW-Stevens Point, National Park Service, and US Forest Service. “Black bear attack associations and agency risk management, 2019.”

John Hechtel retired from Alaska Fish and Game after over 40 years experience with grizzly and black bears. He produced a series of bear safety videos and serves on the Bear Specialist Group/Human-Bear Conflict Expert Team.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages the state parks system and the wildlife of the State of Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife currently manages 42 state parks and 307 wildlife areas.

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This online series is sponsored by The Durango Herald.

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Special thanks to Sandhya Tillotson with Sagebrush Ltd.

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