Two individuals and their canine have been killed in a uncommon grizzly bear attack in Canada’s Banff nationwide park, and the bear was later killed by park rangers.
The couple haven’t but been recognized however “loved the outdoors and were inseparable”, a member of the family stated in a press release.
“They lived for being in the backcountry and were two of the most cautious people I know. They knew bear protocol and followed it to a tee.”
According to the member of the family of one of many deceased, the common-law couple checked in day by day whereas within the backcountry, together with on Friday at 5pm once they despatched a notification they’d arrived safely at camp within the Red Deer River Valley, an space of steep cliffs and rugged terrain west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch.
Later that evening, park staff received a distress notification from a satellite tv for pc system requesting assist following a bear attack. A specialised crew that handles wildlife assaults was instantly dispatched however was hampered by poor climate and unable to make use of a helicopter.
The crew traveled by foot all through the evening and arrived on the distant campsite round 1am Saturday morning, the place they discovered the couple and their canine had died within the encounter with a grizzly bear.
The bear was demonstrating “aggressive behaviour” and was killed by Parks Canada “to ensure public safety”. The RCMP arrived hours later to move the victims to Sundre, a city almost 50 miles east of the attack.
“This is a tragic incident, and Parks Canada wishes to express its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” the company stated in a press release.
The fatalities had been the primary in half a century inside the border of Banff nationwide park, though the area skilled a spate of assaults in the summertime of 1980 by the “Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek” – one in all which was deadly.
Experts say bears sometimes depart the realm after a “defensive” attack, together with when they’re startled by people. But when the Parks Canada crew arrived, they discovered the bear nonetheless with the victims. Predatory assaults are exceedingly uncommon.
Biologists will conduct a necropsy of the bear after which Parks Canada will full a forensic investigation of the location to find out what might need occurred to the victims.
Kim Titchener, a pal of the victims’ household and the founding father of Bear Safety and More, stated that within the autumn, bears enter a state referred to as “hyperphagia” and have an elevated urge for food forward of the winter hibernation. The heavy feeding by bears, popularized by “Fat Bear Week” is their closing try to amass sufficient fats earlier than winter.
“They’re trying to eat as much as they can are still really active in the fall. People sometimes think ‘Oh it’s getting cold out so we’re not going to run into bears.’ But they’re still in the valley bottoms feeding on vegetation. And you can certainly encounter them.”
Titchener stated whereas the seasons can play a task in bear behaviour, the “sheer number” of individuals heading outside is by far the most important issue of a rise in human-bear encounters.
“There are only 60 grizzly bears in Banff and less than 1,000 in Alberta. They’re a threatened species. People say we have too many bears. No – we have too many people,” stated Titchener, including that almost all of these headed into the backcountry don’t take bear security programs.
“Half the time when people get attacked by carnivores, they’re doing something that’s risky or they don’t have the right gear. But at times, and I suspect this was the case, you have something tragic where it’s the wrong place, wrong time.”
