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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
(Banff National Park East Gate to Bow Valley Provincial Park) For the period: July 23 to July 30, 2021
The bears are in the buffaloberries! There have been several sightings of bears along trails and in day use areas in the Bow Valley and K-Country as the bears find the ripe berries. Be prepared and on the lookout for bears feeding on buffaloberries while you recreate, as many berry bushes are found along popular trails as is evidenced by the recent bear sightings at the Canmore Nordic Centre and near Cougar Creek. Making lots of noise is the best way to alert them of your presence and it gives them time to clear the area.
Garbage left at trail-heads and day use areas has also been a concern and a reminder to make sure that your garbage finds its way to a bear proof bin, or if the garbage bin is full find another bin or pack your garbage out with you!
SOME THINGS TO ‘BEAR’ IN MIND
With the large numbers of trail users this season, we can expect an increase in encounters between people and bears. You can help reduce this risk by staying out of closed areas, making lots of noise, travelling in groups, and keeping pets on a leash. It is also a good idea to “Know before you go” by finding out where the bear warnings are and planning accordingly; avoiding these areas can also reduce your risks of encounters. Trail users need to mentally prepare themselves to handle bear encounters and expect to run into a bear while out on the trails! Carry bear spray to use in case of accidental close encounters.
This human-bear conflict summary map for berry season gives you a good sense of the areas frequented by bears at this time of year in the Bow Valley.
BEARS IN THE NEWS
A black bear was caught napping on a mattress at a dump in Northern ontario.
Messy camper must pay the costs of relocating a grizzly bear in Wyoming.
Watch some grizzly bears keeping cool in a tub at a BC Wildlife Park.
World’s largest wildlife crossing seeks funding for November groundbreaking near Los Angeles.
106.5 Mountain FM recently talked about the Town of Banff and Canmore’s wildlife awareness messaging campaign. Click on the audio link below to listen.
Food for Thought?
We are in berry season and berry bushes are often found along trails, roads and campgrounds. Bears will be very focused on eating berries, so it is especially important to remember to make lots of noise to alert them of your presence. Even the berries up at higher elevations are ripe and ready to be eaten. They take this feasting job very seriously, eating up to 200,000 berries per day and focusing on it for over 20 hours per day! As such, when bears are surprised they can respond defensively as they may feel threatened.
Shepherdia canadensis, more commonly known as Buffaloberry.
Bear scat can be an indication of bear activity in the area. During berry season bear scat looks a lot like strawberry jam! Keep an eye out for it on the trails and do not linger in areas with fresh scat. If you do stumble upon some fresh scat out on the trails, remember to be extra vigilant, make extra noise to alert potential bears of your presence, and consider turning around if you are not prepared to handle a possible encounter with a bear.
A trail of bear scat during berry season!
NOW is the time to remove unripe fruit (such as crabapple, mountain ash and chokecherry) from your trees before you have a bear in your tree. Leaving fruit in your trees can attract bears into residential areas, putting bears and people at risk. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that bears do not have a reason to linger in your yard, as they will pay the price for our poor attractant management by getting relocated or destroyed.
An example of some unripe mountain ash fruit ready to be removed!
AND NOW SOME PAWS-ITIVE NEWS
Brooks Falls in Alaska's Katmai National Park is the best place in the world to watch brown bears feasting on salmon as they swim upstream to spawn. Find out the best time to watch live and learn more about Katmai and its brown bears by clicking here!
The live webcam channel below shows the fish trying very hard to jump up the Brooks Falls and you may even see some bears taking advantage of the situation and grabbing an easy meal! Being fat for a bear is a good thing and will help them reproduce and survive the long winter hibernation. These bears are much bigger than the bears we have here in the Bow Valley because they are eating high protein fatty fish all day as opposed to the buffaloberries that our bears here are currently eating.
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