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Bear 148 attracted to fruit trees

Female grizzly bear 148 was feasting on crab apple trees in the Banff townsite on the weekend and has now made her way onto provincial lands in Canmore. The well-known bear was eating crab apples in the Middle Springs area on Saturday night (Aug.

Female grizzly bear 148 was feasting on crab apple trees in the Banff townsite on the weekend and has now made her way onto provincial lands in Canmore.

The well-known bear was eating crab apples in the Middle Springs area on Saturday night (Aug. 27) and made her way to provincial lands near Harvie Heights by Tuesday morning, where she was observed on the Trans-Canada Highway.

“She accessed some crab apples in the Middle Springs area. She spent about six hours and then travelled towards Carrot Creek,” said Jesse Whittington, a wildlife ecologist with Banff National Park.

“She was spotted near the east gate this morning (Tuesday). She was right on the highway.”

Bear 148 is the daughter of famed bear 64, who died at the age of 23 several years ago and DNA evidence confirms she is also the offspring of bear 122, the dominant male in Banff National Park.

She’s five-and-a-half-years old and is coming into breeding age. She has been fitted with a GPS collar by Parks Canada so managers can keep track of her whereabouts.

Whittington said the health of all wildlife depends on how much they have to eat, which affects survival and reproductive rates.

“When we look at what bears are eating in the wild, the buffalo berry crop is dwindling and a lot of times you’ll find bears flipping rocks for ants, eating grass and digging for roots,” he said.

“When you compare the food value of that to what they find in human garbage and fruit trees, it’s no wonder that’s what drives them to access human food.”

The latest incident involving bear 148 feeding on fruit trees in the townsite has prompted Parks Canada to again remind people to pick fruit from their trees. She’s been into fruit trees in town on several occasions in the past.

“When bears come into residences to feed on fruit, it increases the risk of conflict to bears and people,” Whittington said.

“We want to really remind people that if they have fruit trees, they need to pick their fruit, and if they would like help, we can remove trees for them and provide them with native trees.”

Now that 148’s on provincial land, provincial wildlife managers are worried she will find fruit trees here, too, especially because buffalo berries in the area are diminishing.

Jay Honeyman, human-wildlife conflict specialist with Alberta Environment and Parks, said black bears are feasting on dogwood and chokecherries east of Canmore, near Exshaw and Lac Des Arcs, but 148 has never ventured that far east.

“A big concern is fruit trees. There’s fruit trees in Harvie Heights, but she hasn’t been over there yet,” he said. “With buffalo berries on the downswing, she’s going to look for alternatives.”

Honeyman said bear 148 is being monitored while she is on provincial lands.

“We don’t want to be moving her, but at the same time, we don’t want her to be finding all these trees and getting into trouble,” he said. “We’ll do what we can to keep her in the valley.”

Meanwhile, the Town of Canmore is offering a voluntary fruit tree removal program.

If a homeowner has a fruit tree in one of the priority areas identified by the municipality, a certified arborist can remove it in September at no cost.

The tree can be replaced with a non-fruit bearing tree for free from an approved planting list this fall or next spring.

Funds are limited and the Town may not be able to remove all trees, so homeowners are asked to remove fruit from trees and take it to collections bins at the Boulder Crescent recycling depot. Bins will be in place until Nov. 3.

“We have a responsibility to look after our own backyards,” said Honeyman.


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