Bear Attack Canmore/Banff NP Border.

Bear Season is upon us, this tragic report urges strong caution to

all.

 

A male Grizzly Bear that had been relocated into Banff National Park

(May 27th) returned, then attacked and killed a young woman jogging

at the directly adjacent Canmore Silvertip Golf Course yesterday.

 

 

It is reported that the bear had approached a woman photographing

wild flowers prior to it's relocation.

In that incident, the woman (& dog) was able to slowly back out of

potential harms way.

 

Here is a report

link:http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/06/06/bear-

attack050606.html

 

 

David Crossley/Crossley Photography....

Very sad to read about this. Bear spray can't be guaranteed to work in every situation, but is a very good item to have along. Keep safe.

Relocating a bear has been proven not to work. They will almost always return. What is

now being done in areas with bear human contact is behavior modification. Pepper spray,

rubber bullets, loud noises, etc. Not just one of those but all of those at different

encounters by trained personal. This teaches bears to not visit the area where they are

harassed and not to associate with humans. This bear, from the report, was seen around

the golf course many times but because it was not aggressive was left alone. This tragedy

may have been avoided if the wildlife officials acted sooner.

I read this and often wonder, why can't we relocate the humans instead? While her death is sad, it is inevitable when continuuing to encroach upon nature and minimizing her area of habitat for sustainability. I hope that others are aware of the potential for danger and respect it no matter how "civilised" a place should "seem" to be.

Tragic as this is, please note that the woman and her friends were using a Wildlife Corridor that was closed to public access. They are called wild animals for a reason!

Sadly we now have one dead young woman and (assumedly) one dead bear. We must give wildlife in all it's forms (not just the big and dangerous) the greatest respect, after all it is their habitat as well.

 

There used to be a sign in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda which said quite simply "Elephants have the right of way" - seems to say it all really.

Bill, yes the Griz has been shot. Rather unfortunate. This year has seen a lot more interaction between bears and people in the areas surronding Calgary. Early spring and not much snow over the winter have produced prime conditions for this to happen.

 

Also, let me remind everybody that this was a "teenage" Griz and wildlife officials had no reason to believe he posed a threat. If the entire story would be posted he approched the woman taking photos out of curiosity but quickly retreated.

I am getting a little confused here.If the bear was not seen as a threat why was it relocated (I understand it was relocated) ? Is it possible that the relocation in fact antagonised the bear and made it more likely that it would attack humans ? Jim Stamates cast serious doubts on the practise of relocation.

 

When I lived in Kenya I had access to information that showed that lions were relocated to the Aberdares, a little visited location with plenty of space.These were apparently from areas where there was an "excess" of lions and they (the lions) were increasing their territory to avoid conflict.

 

I only ever came across lions twice in the Aberdares and they were the most aggressive lions I had ever encountered. When I subsequently came across the information I felt it explained the aggression.

Bill, the bear was relocated because of the humane encounter. In other words "we" encroached his enviroment then moved him.

And yes the practice of relocation can have two effects. More docile animal or more aggressive animal.

It is nearly always "we" who encroach and I fear the encroachment will increase regardless of the impact it makes.The best hope seems to me to be for wildlife/conservancy organisations to somehow raise the funds and become major landowners (or am I just a foolish optimist).This has been done in the UK by the RSPB who are now one of the largest landowners in the country.

 

Is relocation under consideration as a control method ? We do not have the kind of animal problem that requires such action here in the UK but it seemed to work in Kenya in many cases.

This might help. If the area you are in has had recent bear activity, DON'T GO JOGGING THROUGH IT!

 

MR

MR - very true but (not saying the young lady in question was like this) many people feel that wildlife should always defer to their requirements.

 

For me "Elephants have the right of way"