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Bear kills dog on Parkway

BANFF - A black bear killed a dog that jumped out of the window of a vehicle along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park another case that demonstrates dogs can trigger defensive attacks in bears.

BANFF - A black bear killed a dog that jumped out of the window of a vehicle along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park another case that demonstrates dogs can trigger defensive attacks in bears.

In another incident in Banff, a black bear with cubs bluff charged at an on-leash dog, coming within a two metres of the hiker and dog Monday (May 21), forcing Parks Canada to close the trails in the Valleyview area until further notice.

In Jasper National Park, the owner of a dog had pulled over to view a bear when the dog jumped out the window and barked and chased the bruin that was feeding on roadside greenup near Kerkeslin campground, south of Athabasca Falls.

The owner, who was in a state of shock, tried to save his Blue Heeler dog by wrestling the bear, but the dog's death was quick and the man was lucky he wasn't injured himself. The incident happened about 9 p.m. on May 16.

Officials say the man was traumatized by the event, noting his dog was a big part of his family.

"He wasn't expecting her to jump out the window at the bear there... an attempt was made to save the dog," said Steve Malcolm, a human-wildlife conflict specialist in Jasper.

"The bear got on top of it and things did not work out well for the dog. It's disappointing it ended up the way it did. I would feel a lot less sympathy if the dog was off-leash. This is really unfortunate."

There were no other people in the area at the time, but a passerby drove to within cell range to raise the alarm. Parks Canada human-wildlife conflict specialists quickly responded and retrieved the dog.

Malcolm said the attack by the bear was completely defensive, noting this animal has never shown aggression towards people.

"Sometimes wild animals will act with a little bit of forgiveness, but not here. He's a medium-sized black bear and this was totally defensive," he said. "If anyone challenges to come into that space, a bear goes defensive right away."

Several studies have concluded that dogs can trigger bear attacks.

One published in 2014 in International Bear News revealed 49 of 92 reported black bear attacks in Canada and the United States from 2010-15 involved dogs. Of those 49, dogs were injured half the time and the bear killed the dog in seven instances.

Another study published in 2016 in the online journal Nature.com showed the causes of about half of the 700 carnivore encounters documented in North America and Europe were a result of inappropriate human behaviour, including dogs off leash.

A newly released study by internationally recognized bear expert Stephen Herrero and wildlife biologist Tom Smith looked at human-bear conflicts in Alaska; from the earliest in 1880 until 2015.

The study found that domestic dogs helped stop bear maulings nearly half of the time - 47.5 per cent of 19 instances. However, dogs appeared to have initiated the attack in five cases, 12.5 per cent of cases.

"In 5.9 per cent of incidents, domestic dogs intervened. Dogs defending persons were successful in terminating the mauling 47.5 per cent of the time," according to the study.

"In five instances the dog was likely responsible for inciting an attack, either by bringing a bear back to its owners or barking, thus attracting the bear."

Meanwhile, the owner of the dog that was killed didn't want the black bear to pay any price for the attack.

"He was concerned nothing was going to happen to the bear," said Malcolm.

The black bear has been hit with paintballs so officials can closely monitor it over the next couple of weeks.

Malcolm said this particular bear is roadside habituated and tolerant of people, adding he suspects it has been fed in the past.

He said some individual predators may start to act differently towards dogs if they've become familiar with them or had a close encounter with a dog.

"It will be good if it retains its historical behaviours and ignores people mostly and is not investigating vehicles and we're not seeing an uptick in his behaviour," he said. "If anything changes, we do have to change our response. I would never go to a serious wildlife response unless it's a serious public safety issue."

Parks Canada said the dog was under control until it escaped from the car.

In a Facebook statement, Parks Canada said it shared the news of the dog's death with "heavy hearts" and sent condolences to the owner of the pet.

"This is a sad reminder that all pets should be kept under control and on-leash at all times while within a national park," the federal agency's statement read.

Following the black bear bluff charge at a dog in Banff on Monday, Parks Canada was quick to close the area to give the mamma bear some space and security.

The bear's cubs were not seen at the time of that encounter, but a sighting the day before in the same area of a bear with cubs leads Parks Canada to believe it's likely the same animal.

The closure applies to Valleyview and area trails bordered by Mountain Avenue, The Banff Springs Hotel and Rimrock Resort.

"This is because of a female black bear with cubs displaying aggressive defensive behaviour," according to the closure notice.

Those caught with dogs off leash in the mountain national parks can face a mandatory court appearance and fines of up to $25,000 under the Canada National Parks Act.


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