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A couple was attacked and killed by an “aggressive” grizzly bear in Banff National Park in Canada, officials said Sunday.
Officials were notified via satellite device of a bear attack in the Red Deer River Valley in Alberta Park at 8 p.m. Friday.
Since the circumstances did not allow an emergency team to reach the search area by helicopter, they set out on foot through the night to search for the couple.
More than 24 hours later, officers arrived at the campsite and found two bodies there.
The Wildlife Human Attack Response Team, whose members are specially trained to respond to animal attacks, said it found a grizzly bear in the area that was exhibiting “aggressive behavior.”
The team decided to euthanize the bear immediately “to ensure public safety,” Banff National Park said in a statement on Facebook.
The deceased couple were found at 1 a.m. Sunday. Four hours later, local police arrived and transported the victims to Sundre, a town in central Alberta.
The victims have not yet been identified, but a family member told Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News that they are life partners and experienced hikers in the backcountry.
The family member said the couple’s dog was also killed.
“They were long-time partners who loved the outdoors and were inseparable,” the family member said in a statement to CBC. “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.”
Parks Canada did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s questions about the couple’s identity Monday morning.
This was at least the second fatal grizzly attack in North America since July, when a grizzly bear mauled a woman on a forest trail west of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. That bear was later euthanized after breaking into a person’s home in search of food, The Post reported in September.
According to Parks Canada, the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains are home to grizzly and black bears.
Bear sightings become more common in the fall as the animals begin actively foraging and preparing to hibernate during the cold winter months.
The Parks Canada website states that it is safest to avoid encountering a bear. However, if that is not possible, bear spray or playing dead should be the first options. If these don’t work, hikers may have to fight back.
Fourteen percent of grizzly bear attacks result in deaths worldwide, Kim Titchener, founder of Bear Safety and More and also a family friend of at least one of the victims, told Portal.
Violent encounters between grizzly bears and humans are increasing as more people enjoy the outdoors, but are still very rare, she said.
“That’s really just the reason we’re seeing more attacks, is that more people are getting outdoors and unfortunately they’re not being educated about it,” she said.
According to Parks Canada, Banff National Park is home to around 65 grizzly bears, which are considered an endangered species.
There are up to 20,000 grizzly bears in the wider western Alberta region, Yukon and Northwest Territories, and British Columbia.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada lists grizzly bears as a species of “special concern” because they are particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.
According to Parks Canada, they are facing extinction due to human intolerance, market hunting, rapid conversion of their habitat to agriculture and the loss of their most important prey, the buffalo.
Officials closed the park area where the attack occurred indefinitely. Visitors can be fined up to $25,000 if they are spotted in restricted areas.