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The information below is based upon a compilation of bear information provided by government agencies and unconfirmed sightings reported by the public over the last week. It is not intended to be used as a real-time, complete record of where bears are in the valley.
BEAR ACTIVITY SUMMARY (Sep.9-16, 2022)
(Banff National Park East Gate to Bow Valley Provincial Park)
There continue to be daily reports and sightings of bears in fruit trees and passing through yards in residential areas throughout the Bow Valley. Bears that gain access to these food sources can lose their natural fear of people, which increases the possibility of human-wildlife conflict. These bears can cause injury to people and pets, or destroy property, resulting in bears being relocated or destroyed. Relocated bears generally have a fairly low chance of survival (around 30%), but moving a bear in the fall is especially difficult as they need to eat as much as possible before their winter hibernation. You can help keep bears safe and wild by removing fruit and other attractants (such as bird feeders, garbage, pet food and greasy BBQ’s) from your yard.
Even though bear sightings in the Bow Valley and K-Country outside of town have slowed down, officials are still receiving daily reports of bears in different locations in the parks. You should still expect to encounter bears while out recreating so be properly prepared and not surprised!
This warning sign is up on the way to Peaks/Quarry Lake/Rundleview areas to remind residents and visitors that bears are active in the area AND to remove fruit and other attractants from their yards!
With elk rutting season in full swing, you may hear some loud bugling! Male elk are particularly protective of the female elk they are with and may become aggressive towards anything that comes too close. Give plenty of space to ALL ELK (at least 30 metres or 3 bus lengths), never get between a male elk and the female elk and keep pets on a leash. If an elk charges (usually because you are much too close), be prepared to use your bear spray. Try to move behind a large object (e.g. car, large tree) and keep the object between you and the elk. Never approach elk to take pictures up close as they are wild animals that need their space and can react unpredictably!
Elk frequently hang out along trails and in wide open fields such as school yards and playing fields around town, which means you may have to choose an alternate route while out for a walk/run/ride. Parents should have a conversation with their children about giving wildlife lots of space, not trying to sneak past wildlife on the trail and calmly leaving the area if they see elk or other wildlife on their commute to school.
Photo by Amar Athwal.
You can also submit your report using the Report-A-Poacher Online form or contact your local district Fish and Wildlife office.
SOME THINGS TO ‘BEAR’ IN MIND
It is our responsibility to give wildlife the space they need to feed and move about undisturbed. Some simple reminders to help keep people and wildlife safe are:
Stay out of closed areas and avoid areas where bears have been seen, or where active warnings are in place
Make lots of noise to alert bears of your presence
Travel in groups
Keep pets on a leash
Be aware of your surroundings by not wearing earbuds or headphones. Look and listen for signs of willdife (i.e. tracks and scat)
Carry bear spray and know how to use it!
While the bears in Alaska are starting to get very fat, the bears here are working hard to find berries and other natural foods. Here is a short video that shows the Alaskan bears letting the food come to them, which is certainly not the case for bears in the Bow Valley and K-Country!
WILDLIFE IN THE NEWS
Town officials hope new bylaw will deter increasing bear activity in Canmore.
A family of black bears were trapped and relocated south of Jasper after spending considerable time in the townsite eating fruit from trees.
A young girl who was attacked by a cougar shares her story of survival and how she’s moving forward from the terrifying ordeal.
A local resident shares some great reminders about keeping people and wildlife safe in the Bow Valley in this Letter to the Editor.
A Michigan man suffered serious injuries during a bear mauling in Alaska, but was able to stop the attack using bear spray.
An uninvited bear shows up at a 2-year-old's birthday party in Connecticut and ate cupcakes.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT?
Several black bears continue to gain access to fruit trees and garbage throughout Canmore. This brings wildlife and humans close together and creates a concern for public and wildlife safety. Bears that get into fruit trees can cause extensive damage to the trees with the end result of the tree dying and often having to be replaced. Being proactive and removing the fruit before a bear gets to it could save your tree from getting destroyed by a bear and could prevent a bear from getting relocated or destroyed. For more info check out the Alberta BearSmart Fruit Trees and Bears fact sheet.
If you can’t reach that fruit up in the tree, no problem! We have extendable fruit pickers and extendable pole saw pruners that can be borrowed free of charge (donations are welcome). Please send an email to resource@biosphereinstitute.org to make arrangements to borrow the fruit picking equipment. Picked fruit can be put in the residential food waste bins around town. Leaves, branches and clippings can be put in the appropriate bins at the Boulder Crescent Recycling Depot.
Crabapples can also be used to make delicious jams, jellies and baked goods and liqueurs.
In a continued effort to reduce conflict between bears and people in Canmore, the Town of Canmore has a Community Standards Bylaw, and they are running a Voluntary Fruit Tree Removal Incentive Program to help increase compliance. You can learn more about both of these initiatives on their website here.
Extendable fruit picker that can be borrowed from WildSmart. This one works best for picking crabapples.
WILDLIFE AMBASSADOR WORDS OF WISDOM
Watching for Bear Signs – Digs by Derek Ryder, Volunteer Wildlife Ambassador and IGA Interpretive Guide
Kananaskis Country is home to a lot of animals, including bears. Recreating safely in bear country means more than just knowing what to do in a bear encounter. It’s also understanding signs that bears are around, so that maybe those encounters can be prevented. Bears are big enough that they almost always leave evidence that they’ve been present – if you know what to look for. Keeping your eyes peeled for this evidence can help you be aware if bears are present, and will decrease the risk that you’ll accidentally run into a bear. In this series of articles, I’m going to help you learn about some of the signs bears leave in the forest.
It’s larch season, and that means throngs of people are going to head up to the high alpine. That’s exactly where grizzlies are at this time of year, too. There are a couple of things that grizzlies chow down on up in the alpine before they go to bed, and almost all of them are dug up. Accordingly, something to keep your eye out for on your larch explorations are Grizzly Bear digs.
Click here or on the image below to read Derek’s full article about Digs!
Click on this image of a dig to read the full article!
AND NOW SOME PAWS-ITIVE NEWS
The reintroduced bison herd in Banff National Park had 16 new calves born this spring! The original population of 16 bison that were introduced to Banff National Park in 2017 has now grown to between 85-90 animals. Find out more in this recent article.
For those of you who have crabapples but do not know what to do with them, look no further. The team at Core Values Cider Co. is holding a fruit drive this Fall and will be happy to take them off your hands. Drop offs can be made at their cidery (located at 1402 Railway Ave.) during normal business hours. Pickup services are available. For more info please contact Core Values Cider Co. at info@corevaluescider.ca or by phone at 403-679-1578.
Show Quarry Lake some love after a long season of picnics, dog walks, and long summer days spent swimming with friends and family. From 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. at Quarry Lake on Sunday, Sept. 25 2022 join Bow Valley WildSmart, Bow Valley SPCA, and your local Canmore Municipal Enforcement Officers at the Love Your Lake Community Clean Up! Lend a hand and park for free (if you don’t have a free resident’s pass). Register at the welcome tent for a temporary parking pass. Check-in at the pathway nearest to the parking lot. For details, visit: www.canmore.ca/loveyourlake
Learn about how to keep people and wildlife safe through simple actions such as keeping dogs on-leash, staying on designated trails, carrying bear spray and managing attractants in your backyard.
Dog walkers can come and test their quick draw skills at our dog on-leash bear spray challenge (with inert bear spray).
UPCOMING EVENTS
electric vehicle EDUCATION IN CANMORE!
Biosphere Institute has brought the Plug ‘n’ Drive Mobile Electric Vehicle Education Trailer (MEET) to Canmore! This is a hub for electric vehicle education and awareness and will be in Canmore until Sep.18. Click here for more information!
COYOTE TALK - LIMINAL BEINGS: MARGINAL ETHICS?
Join Dr. Shelley Alexander for this FREE presentation at Fort Calgary on September 29, 2022 from 7:00-8:30pm MDT. Registration is required and attendance can be in-person or online via Zoom.
Few North American species are as subjugated as the coyote, which serves as her entry point to explore marginalization at the intersection of animal ethics, jurisprudence, and colonialism. There are several animals that live in the margins of human life, and our entanglements with them are always fraught with ethical challenges. None seem more tense than our negotiations with legally designated ‘pest’ or ‘nuisance’ animals. Drawing on decades of wild canid research, Shelley will explore mechanisms that entrain ethics towards these liminal species, and propose pathways to decolonize our relationships with all wildlife.
To attend in-person, please register here.
To register for the live Zoom webinar, please click here.
Please remember BEARS CAN BE ENCOUNTERED ANYWHERE, ANYTIME!
Report any sightings of a bear, cougar, wolf or any aggressive wildlife in Kananaskis Country or the Bow Valley to Kananaskis Emergency Services at 403.591.7755