I grew up in the Jasper area, and we'd have bear traps placed all around the town, in forests. The bears loved to head in to town for some easy pickings of food

I grew up in the Jasper area, and we'd have bear traps placed all around the town, in forests. The bears loved to head in to town for some easy pickings of food. Often they'd be tranquilized if they became a problem, and then moved to a new area. In my personal opinion, I'd say they weren't necessarily starved for food but they would continue heading back to town because they were handled very carefully when encountered with a human. If they were put in a situation of harm, they'd be killed instead of being harmlessly tranquilized. It was fairly common to wake up in the middle of the night with a bear going through your garbage. The town's are fairly small and in close proximity with the forest. I think it's less about food supply and more about constant exposure to humans, easy access, and living in close proximity. For the most part, the bears were fairly harmless too. Any aggressive bear would be immediately killed.