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Black bear killed in K-Country

A black bear that grabbed a child’s backpack at Camp Chief Hector has been destroyed amid fears it posed too big a threat to people.

A black bear that grabbed a child’s backpack at Camp Chief Hector has been destroyed amid fears it posed too big a threat to people.

The young black bear boldly approached a group of more than 20 children and snatched a backpack, which did not contain food on July 17.

Alberta Parks officials say the bear’s boldness was escalating and they suspect he must have already gotten a food reward from a backpack.

“Grabbing backpacks is behaviour that suggests the bear was food conditioned,” said Melanie Percy, a senior park ecologist for Alberta Parks for Kananaskis Country.

“The bear was considered to be a threat to the safety of the campers, and the decision was made to remove the bear.”

The one-and-a-half year black bear had been seen a number of times at Camp Chief Hector in Bow Valley Provincial Park over the previous week, showing indifference towards people.

On Sunday afternoon, Percy said a group of more than 20 children and camp counsellors were at the challenge ropes course in the northeast section of the camp.

“The bear came into the small, cleared rope course area and grabbed a child’s backpack which had been left in a group of packs on the ground by the course,” she said.

“The bear came to within 15 feet of the group, despite them yelling at the bear and, after they dropped the pack, took a few steps toward the group before leaving the area.”

An Alberta Parks conservation officer immediately responded to the incident and was flagged down by a camp staff member who had just seen the bear by his teepee.

Percy said the conservation officer then encountered the bear at a distance of 15 feet, and when he yelled at the bear, the bear took a few steps toward him.

“The officer managed to scare the bear up a tree by running a few steps toward it and continuing to yell,” she said.

The officer stayed at the base of the tree waiting for backup, but the bear tried repeatedly to come down the tree toward the officer.

“The officer had to bang on the tree with a stick to scare the bear back up the tree,” she said.

“The bear was drugged, removed from the scene, and later destroyed.”

This bear was likely the offspring of tagged black bear known as No. 2047, who raised her cubs adjacent to Camp Chief Hector.

“As the bear was bold, habituated, and food conditioned, relocating the bear would have essentially exported the problem to another area and would have been irresponsible,” said Percy.

In the same week, Alberta Parks were also forced to relocate a male grizzly bear, known as bear No. 116, into the northern reaches of the province after it killed a sheep at Camp Chief Hector.

Percy said to have been forced to make these two decisions on bears from this area within a few short days has been “difficult and extremely disappointing”.

She said Camp Chief Hector has been very receptive to working with Alberta Parks, noting they already have effective food and waste management practices.

“We will work with management at Camp Chief Hector to ensure their operation moves forward in a way that is both safe for campers, and safe for wildlife,” she said.


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