A male grizzly bear which was struck by a vehicle doing about 100 km/h on the Trans-Canada Highway last month is doing well.
While trying to cross the busy unfenced four-lane highway east of Lac Des Arcs at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 28, grizzly bear 164 was struck by a vehicle. The occupants of the vehicle were shaken, but uninjured.
John Paczkowski, an ecologist with the Parks division of Alberta Environment and Parks, said it was assumed the collared, seven-year-old grizzly was dead given the speed and extent of damage to the vehicle.
“Surprisingly, the next day he was not only alive, but also moving. Three days later he was observed walking with a slight limp,” added Paczkowski, noting the bear was captured two weeks later to assess the extent of his injuries.
“It’s amazing that an animal can be hit by a vehicle at 100 km/h and not only survive, but do surprisingly well,” said Paczkowski, noting there was wall-to-wall fast moving traffic at the time the bear was hit.
A wildlife veterinarian advised Alberta Parks to wait at least two weeks after the car collision before trying to capture bear 164. A free-range dart was used to capture him on Aug. 16 in the Spray Lakes day use area.
Paczkowski said the bear appeared to be in excellent physical shape and had almost doubled in weight since he was first captured in May 2016, from 70 to 133 kilograms in the last 14.5 months.
“Despite an extensive examination, we could not find any external evidence of injury or broken bones 20 days after he was hit by a car,” he said.
“If I had not known he had been hit by a car … there was no indication of any trauma. His ribs were fine. His legs were fine. He was in great shape.”
Grizzly bears are a threatened species in Alberta. There are currently estimated to be about 60 grizzly bears in Kananaskis Country and neighbouring Banff National Park.
Bear 164 travels throughout Peter Lougheed and Spray Valley provincial parks – but many times he’s off the radar and no one has any idea where he is. His last known location was in the Spray Lakes area feeding on a bumper buffalo berry crop.
The bear’s home range also includes the busy and developed Bow Valley – an area dissected by the Trans-Canada Highway, Canadian Pacific Railway, townsites and high human use.
“He’s a fascinating bear because he uses the Bow Valley, travels past Canmore, is rarely seen, and does not interact with people very much,” said Paczkowski, noting 164 has spent time west to Banff and east to Highway 40 on the Stoney Nakoda reserve.
“It’s interesting that he does all that, but it’s challenging and risky. It also puts him into a high-risk lifestyle of being a bear in this area.”
Bear 164 was captured mid-August and fitted with a GPS collar to replace the VHF collar he was fitted with when first captured in the Evan Thomas area of Kananaskis in May 2016.
The GPS collar was secured loosely on him with a highly modified breakaway mechanism to allow the collar to drop off before the bear grows to a point at which the collar becomes tight.
The new collar will help wildlife managers track his whereabouts more accurately, compared to a VHF collar that only picks up his location with telemetry equipment when the bear’s at relatively close range.
“He does make some pretty fascinating moves,” said Paczkowski. “Hopefully the information we get from his GPS collar will help us in future as we plan and design Canmore and wildlife corridors.”
