The bears are out in Banff.
The first reported grizzly bear out of its den this year was seen near the railway line at Massive Siding east of the Hillsdale split along the Bow Valley Parkway on Sunday (March 16).
Officials say although there is still snow on the ground, bears are beginning to wake from their long winter’s nap and are very hungry, as they’ve been living off their fat stores over the past few months.
“As soon as the first bear comes out, it’s bear season,” said Mike Grande, a resource conservation officer with Banff National Park. “The fact we’ve only seen one bear is not an indication there’s only one out.”
Large males tend to be first out of their dens, and as early as mid-March to early April is average. Females with cubs tend to be the last out, in early May or sometimes even into early June.
The first bear was spotted inside Parks Canada’s seasonal travel restriction area along the Bow Valley Parkway. A 17-kilometre stretch on the eastern end of Highway 1A is off limits to people from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. from March 1 to June 25.
Grande said Canadian Pacific Railway crews working at Massive Siding reported that a grizzly bear was lying down between the main railway track and the siding track at about 7 p.m. last Sunday.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to investigate a rail kill, but when I got there he was about 10 metres off the track and moving into cover on the north side of the tracks,” said Grande.
There is a possibility the bear is 122 – a large male bear that was pegged at about 700 pounds before heading into his den last December not long after dining on a large elk carcass by the Bow River upstream from the Banff townsite.
Bear 122, considered the dominant male in the park, made national headlines last year after he killed and ate a black bear by Sundance Canyon in August, then followed that feast up with an elk carcass at Marble Canyon in Kootenay National Park.
“It’s probably a bear we know. It’s definitely a possibility it’s 122. The snow was deep and I couldn’t see his distinctive big white claws,” said Grande.
“This bear’s about 500 pounds and he looked really healthy. He’s got a big round belly, big haunches,” he said, noting he did not see a GPS collar and he was unable to see any possible ear tag due to the low light and his distance away from the grizzly.
At this time of year there is usually a lot of snow up high, so bears that are out concentrate in the valley bottoms as they search for limited food – grain on the train track and first signs of greenery.
Grande said this is the same place people gather at this time of the year for similar reasons – easier travel places where the snow melts first.
“Valley bottoms are an area of interest right now for bears and people,” he said. “Even though it’s not summer, the likelihood of encountering a bear is as high as in summer, possibly higher, because the use is concentrated in the same areas.”
Previous research showed that bears in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta spend, on average, 4.5 months of the year in or near their den sites, which tend to be located in the subalpine.
Last year, bear 122 was the first reported bear out of the den. His GPS collar, which stopped functioning and was removed last year, showed he began moving around March 27, but the first visual of him wasn’t until March 31.
The first reported grizzly bear sighting in 2012 was on April 2. Other first sightings of the year were March 30, 2011; March 17, 2010; March 24, 2009; March 16, 2008 and March 25, 2007.
Parks Canada offers the following bear safety tips: ensure dogs are on a leash at all times while out walking, travel in groups and make noise, and have bear spray and know how to use it. Report bear sightings in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks to 24-hour Banff Dispatch at 403-762-1470.
