Why Wild Animals May End Up On Your Street

Imagine if a road you’ve traveled your entire life suddenly just wasn’t thereanymore. Or, if without warning your favorite local market or restaurant just disappeared.

It would be a bit confusing, right? How are you supposed to get to your destination? Where are you supposed to find food?

That’s essentially what’s happening to a lot of animals who find themselves in the middle of cities or streets. As construction moves into territory that was once a travel corridor or place to find food, animals are suddenly finding themselves in neighborhoods that were once woods. Now to their surprise, it’s all concrete; bustling with humans and machinery, and not at all what they remember.

On this edition of Saturday’s Around the World, we’re taking a look at how communities in the Bow Valley of Alberta, Canada are working on programs to start living harmoniously with wildlife.

The Bow Valley of Alberta, Canada is known as the busiest place in the world where people and grizzly bears coexist peacefully. Their efforts are a great example of how planning our developments around and with wildlife in mind can be beneficial to all of us.

Let’s face it. No one wants to run into a bear on their morning jog.

Realisticly, how can we manage our relationship with the wildlife who live around our communities so that we can all live comfortably? Well, for a look at what these communities are doing, let’s take a moment with this beautiful video directed and produced by Leanne Allison.

Living with Wildlife Everywhere

You may think this doesn’t have to do with you, and that makes sense. After generations of development for human use, it can be difficult to imagine that where you’re standing was once all natural. In fact, it is especially true if you’re in a city, where layers of concrete disguise the natural landscape. If you look closer though, you’ll probably start to see the more subtle ways you are, in fact, still living with wildlife (even if it isn’t a bear in your backyard).