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Wildlife management agencies working together on bear 148

Provincial and federal wildlife officials are investigating the possibility of piloting an agreement to have Banff National Park wildlife crews on the ground in Canmore to help out if grizzly bear 148 heads this way again.

Provincial and federal wildlife officials are investigating the possibility of piloting an agreement to have Banff National Park wildlife crews on the ground in Canmore to help out if grizzly bear 148 heads this way again.

The possibility of a pilot mutual aid agreement to help manage bear 148 when she’s in Canmore – part of her home range – was discussed at a four-hour meeting between Parks Canada, Alberta Fish and Wildlife and Alberta Parks and Environment Monday (July 10).

Last week, Fish and Wildlife caught bear 148 after an encounter with resident Jesse Sanderson, who was pushing his young daughter in a stroller and walking a leashed dog in the Quarry Lake region. The bruin was sent back to national park lands, where she spends 90 per cent of time.

Fish and Wildlife said bear 148 would be killed if she returned and showed any behaviour on provincially managed land they consider concerning. Parks Canada says, based on her behaviour in the park since she was born, they are comfortable with her on the landscape.

Jay Honeyman, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with Alberta Environment and Parks, said the province’s position has not changed, but there were discussions at the meeting on ways both jurisdictions could support each other.

“We’re just looking at where we can help one another when resources might be thin and what it would take and how it would work,” said Honeyman. “We’re trying not to get stuck on a line on the map, within reason,”

As of press time, Fish and Wildlife had still not interviewed Sanderson to get a first hand account of the July 3 incident, but was planning to do so. Sanderson, meanwhile, has said he doesn’t believe bear 148 should be killed over this incident.

A petition, to be handed to Fish and Wildlife, is circulating on change.org calling for bear 148 to be saved, given grizzlies are threatened in Alberta, 148 may have bred this spring and is a vital female bear to the local population. At press time, there were more than 3,200 signatures.

“She belongs here and on our landscape, the only home she knows and should not be executed for simply being a bear,” it reads. “She is surrounded by millions of people yearly and does a pretty good job of avoiding them.”

After being caught last week, the grizzly bear was kept in a trap for about 40 hours before being handed over to Parks Canada. At that time, Parks Canada released the bruin into Kootenay National Park, still within her home range. She’s since made it back to the Bow Valley.

Bill Hunt, resource conservation manager for Banff National Park, said they didn’t immobilize and examine bear 148, a six-and-a half-year-old bear.

“She appeared healthy and we didn’t notice any difference in her temperament,” he said.

It’s difficult to predict bear behaviour, but Hunt said there have been no serious incidents – where she has come into contact with someone or has displayed unnatural behaviour - involving bear 148.

That said, Hunt said there have been some incidents that cause concern for Parks Canada, especially her behaviour with dogs, in particular, with dogs off-leash. For example, the incident at Banff Mount Norquay where she followed a dog and the hikers after the dog harassed her.

Hunt said most incidents inside Banff National Park have involved what he refers to as a bluff hop, where bear 148 makes a gesture towards somebody when they encroach her personal space.

“Often it’s a couple steps forward, or swatting at the air with her paw, but in those cases she hasn’t continued to close the distance,” he said.

“Right now we’re comfortable with her being on the landscape.”

Honeyman said there have been several incidents involving bear 148 on provincial lands, but he would not give details or describe the nature of them.

“There have been a number of incidents some without dogs, in our opinion wouldn’t be described as defensive or surprise,” he said, adding he didn’t want to get into it.

Honeyman said the number one priority is public safety when managing bear 148, noting bears cannot be within the developed footprint of the Town of Canmore.

“When that bears comes out we’re trying to do what we can to enable her to live on the landscape without causing public safety concerns,” Honeyman said.

“Nobody is taking this lightly. Nobody, more so people who work with wildlife, want to harm or euthanize wildlife … but we can’t and won’t ignore public safety.”

Meanwhile, Hunt said Monday’s meeting was productive, noting Parks Canada shared factual information on the case history of bear 148.

He said the two jurisdictions shared information on each other’s operational bear management programs, as well challenges and opportunities with each programs for managing situations like the recent one in Canmore

“We tried to identify ways to work in the future to help each other out, possibilities to support each other both on ground and tools for sharing information in a timely manner,” said Hunt.

Bear 148 is the daughter of bear 64, a well-known grizzly that navigated the busy and developed Bow Valley until she disappeared at age 24, presumably dying of natural causes. DNA shows bear 122 is the father.


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