A large male grizzly was killed on the Trans-Canada Highway near Lake Louise in the middle of the night, May 9-10.
The large male, which weighed in at 415 pounds, was struck by a vehicle under a wildlife overpass west of Lake Louise at about midnight, May 9 or in the early hours of May 10.
The bear, said Hal Morrison, Parks’ wildlife human conflict specialist, had been ear tagged by provincial wildlife managers and was known to them.
Being that no disabled vehicle was in the vicinity of the strike, which occurred in the middle of the underpass and, given that the bear was thrown 65 metres from where it was struck, Morrison believes a fast moving tractor trailer unit was the cause.
“A car striking that bear would have been disabled,” said Morrison. “It must have been a large vehicle, moving fast at about midnight in the dark of the tunnel.
“There would have been little chance for the bear or the person (driver) to react. That’s why it’s important for folks to obey the speed limits.”
While the bear, the first grizzly killed this year on the highway in the Lake Louise, Yoho, Kootenay Field Unit, had been ear tagged by provinicial managers, Morrison said the big male was known to Parks staff.
“He’d been observed a couple of days before in Field, playfighting with another bear on the Field Flats. The other bear must have been a female or there wouldn’t have been any play, just fighting. It is the start of mating season.
“So he came down Kicking Horse Pass and then got in on the wrong side of the wildlife fence. The highway side of the fence. Sometimes when animals get inside the fence, they have trouble figuring out how to get out. Then the fence keeps them close to the highway.”
While wildlife fencing through the parks has been largely successful in keeping wildlife off the highway, Morrison said, like some wildlife control measures, it’s not perfect.
“The fence has been pretty good in decreasing wildlife mortality, but some carnivores are still getting inside. We believe he likely came across a cattleguard. For an agile animal like a bear, it’s not that difficult.
“Cattleguards aren’t foolproof. We have looked at other designs, but we haven’t found anything better. For some individuals (bears), they don’t look as imposing as we think.”
According to Sustainable Resource Development, the grizzly was moved from Cardston in southern Alberta inSept. 2009, where it had been killing cattle. The bear was hauled north of Nordegg near the Brazeau River, but dropped his satellite collar two weeks after the relocation.
“We had no information about what he was doing,” said SRD’s Jon Jorgensen. “He probably denned up north, but we don’t have any information about where he’s been.”
Bears found killing cattle or sheep on farm land are often moved to non-agricultural areas.
“We have areas where we can move certain bears. This guy was put in Nordegg because there aren’t many farms around,” Jorgensen said.
He speculates the bear may have been making his way back down to the Cardston area. Male grizzlies who learn to kill cattle often become repeat offenders.
The death illustrates the fact just because a bear is relocated doesn’t mean he’s safe.
“We’ve had many instances of relocated bears being killed,” Jorgensen said.
