A bear warning is in place for a three-kilometre section of Banff National Park’s Bryant Creek trail where two grizzlies were seen feasting on an elk carcass.
The warning went into effect on Saturday (Sept. 1) when hikers reported stumbling upon the two medium-sized bruins feasting on a young male elk about 10 metres away.
Officials say resource conservation officers flew to the site by helicopter that evening, sweeping the area to make sure no other hikers were likely to stumble across the feeding bears.
“They were able to speak to the reporting person and see the bears from the air, but we were losing light and we delayed moving the carcass,” said David Gummer, a wildlife biologist for Banff National Park.
“We moved the carcass the following morning by helicopter a few hundred metres upslope. Most of it had been eaten by the bears already and the bears weren’t anywhere to be seen.”
The warning applies to the section of trail from the Trail Centre warden patrol cabin to BR9 campgrounds. Hikers are advised to travel with caution and be aware of their surroundings.
It is not known if the two medium-sized bears took down the elk or were scavenging a carcass. Biologists have no way of knowing if the elk was strong and healthy or whether it was sick or injured.
Gummer said neither of the bears had collars or ear tags, noting they may have been siblings or perhaps a mother and young one, though again, he can’t say for sure.
“I think they would not be very tolerant of each other that close (if they were unrelated),” he said.
Meanwhile, a closure at Marble Canyon in Kootenay National Park, where male bear 122 was feasting on an elk carcass, has been lifted.
The 600-pound bruin had been feeding on the elk 15 metres below the trail. The large grizzly made national headlines the week earlier when he ate a black bear near Sundance Canyon near Banff.
