Canada
The pair have not yet been identified and a bear that showed “aggressive behavior” was killed by park rangers
A rare grizzly bear attack in Canada’s Banff National Park has killed two people and their dog, with the bear later killed by park rangers.
The couple have not yet been identified but “loved nature and were inseparable,” a family member said in a statement.
“They lived to be in the backcountry and were two of the most cautious people I know. They knew bear protocol and followed it to the letter.”
According to the family member of one of the deceased, the backcountry couple checked in daily, including on Friday at 5 p.m., when they sent out a notification that they had arrived safely at camp in the Red Deer River Valley, an area of steep cliffs and rugged terrain to the west the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch.
Later that night, park staff received an emergency message from a satellite device requesting help after a bear attack. A specialist wildlife attack response team was immediately dispatched but was hampered by poor weather and was unable to use a helicopter.
The team traveled on foot all night and arrived at the remote campsite around 1 a.m. Saturday morning, where they found the couple and their dog, which had died in an encounter with a grizzly bear.
The bear exhibited “aggressive behavior” and was killed by Parks Canada “to ensure public safety.” Hours later, RCMP arrived to transport the victims to Sundre, a town nearly 50 miles east of the attack.
“This is a tragic incident and Parks Canada would like to extend its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” the agency said in a statement.
The deaths were the first in half a century within the border of Banff National Park, although the region experienced a spate of attacks by the Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek in the summer of 1980 – one of which was fatal.
Experts say bears usually leave the area after a “defensive attack,” even if they are spooked by humans. But when the Parks Canada team arrived, they found the bear still with the victims. Robberies are extremely rare.
Biologists will conduct a necropsy on the bear and then Parks Canada will conduct a forensic examination of the site to determine what may have happened to the victims.
Kim Titchener, a friend of the victims’ family and founder of Bear Safety and More, said bears enter a state called “hyperphagia” in the fall and have an increased appetite before hibernation. The heavy feeding by bears, popularized by “Fat Bear Week,” is their last attempt to accumulate enough fat before winter.
“They try to eat as much as they can and are still very active in the fall. People sometimes think, “Oh, it’s getting cold outside, so we won’t see bears.” But they are still in the valley floors, feeding on vegetation. And you can definitely meet them.”
Titchener said that while seasons can play a role in bear behavior, the “sheer number” of people getting outdoors is by far the biggest factor in the increase in human-bear encounters.
“There are only 60 grizzly bears in Banff and fewer than 1,000 in Alberta. They are an endangered species. People say we have too many bears. No – we have too many people,” Titchener said, adding that the majority of those traveling into the backcountry do not take bear conservation courses.
“In most cases where people are attacked by carnivores, they are doing something that is risky or they don’t have the right equipment. But sometimes, and I suspect this was the case, something tragic happens when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
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