A snow-covered road leads up a hill at dusk in Banff National Park near Lake Louise, Alberta, December 2, 2011. Portal/Mike Blake/File Photo Acquire License Rights
TORONTO, Oct 1 (Portal) – A grizzly bear attacked and killed two people and their dog in Banff National Park in Alberta, according to Canadian park officials and a friend of the victims.
Parks Canada said in a statement Saturday evening that it received an alert late Friday from a GPS device indicating a bear attack in the Red Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Banff National Park.
The bear was later euthanized after exhibiting aggressive behavior, the agency said.
According to Kim Titchener, founder of Bear Safety and More and also a family friend, the victims were a Canadian couple and their dog.
Titchener, who provides bear protection and bear assessment training, said such encounters are increasing as more people go outdoors, but fatal attacks are extremely rare.
“It’s really just the reason we’re seeing more attacks is because more people are getting outdoors and unfortunately they’re not being educated about it,” she said by phone, adding that only 14% of grizzly bear attacks worldwide resulted in deaths.
Bear sightings increase in the fall as they become more active in foraging in the cold winter months before hibernation.
Banff National Park, which attracts more than four million tourists each year, is home to grizzly and black bears.
There are about 60 grizzly bears in Banff National Park, which are considered a threatened population in Alberta, Titchener noted.
Parks Canada said its rescue team had to travel to the site by land throughout the night as weather conditions at the time did not permit helicopter use.
The emergency team arrived on scene in the early hours of Saturday morning and discovered two people deceased, the agency said.
An area closure around the Red Deer and Panther valleys has been implemented and will remain in place until further notice, Parks Canada said.
Parks Canada did not immediately respond to requests to identify the victims.
Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Edited by Aurora Ellis and Lincoln Feast.
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