BANFF – A backcountry area of Banff National Park has been closed to protect a female grizzly bear in her den.
The east bowl of Panorama Peak near Taylor Lake, which is a draw for backcountry skiers, is closed until at least May 1 so the female grizzly bear, and potentially newborn cubs, can remain undisturbed in the den.
Parks Canada suspects there’s a good chance that grizzly No. 142 will emerge with cubs this spring because she was seen in the company of a large male grizzly bear during the mating season and her last litter of cubs was in 2018.
Wildlife experts say the well-known bear is fitted with a GPS collar so they were able to pinpoint the location of her den this year.
“The area does see backcountry skier traffic during the winter and human presence near the den may disturb the bear or her newborn cubs, which could also place skiers at risk of a grizzly bear encounter,” said David Laskin, a wildlife ecologist for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit.
The closure offers some habitat security by avoiding any noise or disturbance near the den that may cause the bear to miscarry, or lose newborn cubs, if she was indeed successfully bred. Bears have also been known on occasion to abandon their dens due to human activity.
“Grizzly bears when they are denning can be easily disturbed … they can emerge from their dens quite suddenly because it's not like they are in a deep, deep hibernation like other species, and they are easily stirred,” said Laskin.
“That can put a person at risk if they are skiing in that area, but also bears have cubs over the winter, and any disruption can affect them negatively given the pressures on a female to bring cubs through the winter successfully into spring.”
The wildlife crew is not 100 per cent sure which male bear 142 was seen with during the mating last spring, but suspect it was either No. 136, also known as Split Lip for his disfigured mouth, or No. 122, called The Boss and the patriarch of Bow Valley bears.
“The ID of that big male was inconclusive, but likely one of the two,” said Laskin.
Bred females experience delayed implantation, meaning the embryo does not implant in the uterus until November or December, and only if the bear has enough fat reserves to sustain her and the developing fetuses through hibernation.
Cubs are typically born in the den in late January to early February and weigh about half a kilogram at birth. While the female dozes for another several months, the cubs nurse on milk she produces that is rich in fat.
“Cubs are very little at this point, very tiny, and spend a few months in the den before emerging,” said Laskin. “That’s why it’s so critical that they aren’t disturbed during this sensitive period.”
Bear 142’s last set of cubs was born in 2018. Bear No. 136 killed and ate one of them near Morant’s Curve along the Bow Valley Parkway in April 2020. She booted out the other cub from that litter last spring. Known as No. 171, he was later captured and fitted with a tracking collar.
Bear 142 spends a great deal of time in the Lake Louise area as well as along the Bow Valley Parkway. She tends to spend time in high use and busy areas, perhaps as a strategy to try to protect herself and her cubs from larger males.
Believed to be about 12 years old, bear 142 caused some anxious moments in summer 2019 when she punched two holes in a tent trying to get food inside. There was a bag of oats inside, but the bear and her cubs at the time were scared off before they could get the food.
This is not the first time Parks Canada has closed a backcountry area to protect denning grizzly bears.
For a couple of winters, Jimmy Junior-Hidden Bowl on the eastern slopes of Mount Jimmy Simpson south of Bow Summit was closed to keep backcountry skiers from interrupting another female grizzly bear’s winter slumber.
The closure was initially put in place in 2019 when a group of skiers spotted her inside her den. But in June and July 2020 during the breeding season, she was spotted with a large male grizzly so the closure was put in place again in winter 2020-21. As it turned out, she emerged with two cubs in spring 2021.
However, resource conservation officers witnessed a large male grizzly bear killing one of the cubs, and the other one disappeared around the same time.
The female bear’s story ended tragically when she was struck and killed by a vehicle on the Icefields Parkway near Bow Lake last August. She was believed to have had two litters of cubs in her nine-and-a-half years, but none survived.
People caught violating the closure at Panorama Ridge can be charged under the Canada National Parks Act leading to a mandatory court appearance, where a judge can impose a fine of up to $25,000. Skiers who were caught in the previous closure at Jimmy Junior-Hidden Bowl were handed hefty fines.
A recent study has shown visitors to the mountain national parks support restrictions or human use limits in order to protect treasured wildlife, particularly when it comes to the protection of female grizzly bears with cubs.
Work by Canmore biologist Sarah Elmeligi published in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism showed most trail users were amendable to changing or restricting their recreation plans to prioritize grizzly bear habitat security and recovery over human use.
“They are a sensitive species and it’s nice to know studies like this show that there’s a desire to support conservation efforts to protect critical habitat,” said Laskin.
Grizzly bears are listed as threatened in Alberta and research has shown grizzlies in Banff National Park produce more slowly than any other bear population in North America because of limited food and the harsh, mountain environment. There are an estimated 65 grizzly bears in Banff National Park.
