TORONTO – A grizzly bear has attacked and killed two individuals and their canine in Alberta’s Banff Nationwide Park, in accordance with Canadian park officers and a good friend of the victims.
Parks Canada stated in an announcement Saturday night that it obtained a GPS alert late Friday indicating a bear assault within the Crimson Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Banff Nationwide Park.
The bear was later killed after it confirmed aggressive conduct, the company stated.
The victims had been a Canadian couple and their canine, in accordance with Kim Titchener, founding father of Bear Security and Extra and likewise a household good friend.
Such encounters are rising as extra individuals head outdoor, however deadly assaults are extraordinarily uncommon, stated Titchener, who supplies bear security coaching and analysis.
“That is the actual purpose we’re seeing extra assaults, is as a result of extra individuals are heading outdoors and sadly they don’t seem to be being educated about this,” she stated by cellphone, including that solely 14% of grizzly bear assaults worldwide end in deaths.
Bear sightings improve throughout the fall as they develop into extra lively foraging for meals earlier than hibernating within the colder months.
Banff Nationwide Park, which attracts greater than 4 million vacationers annually, is dwelling to each grizzly and black bears.
Titchener famous that there are about 60 grizzly bears in Banff Nationwide Park, and they’re thought-about endangered in Alberta.
Parks Canada stated its rescue workforce needed to journey by highway in a single day to the location as a result of climate situations on the time didn’t enable for the usage of helicopters.
The company stated that the response workforce arrived on the website throughout the early hours of Saturday, the place they found two deceased individuals.
A closure for the world round Crimson Deer and Panther Valley has been applied and can stay in place till additional discover, Parks Canada stated.
Parks Canada didn’t instantly reply to inquiries concerning the identification of the victims.