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BEAR ACTIVITY SUMMARY FOR THE BOW VALLEY
(Banff National Park East Gate to Bow Valley Provincial Park) For the period: August 7 to August 14, 2020
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.
SUMMARY
Numerous bears feeding on berries, both black and grizzly, were reported this past week in the Bow Valley and K-Country resulting in several more closures and warnings to be put in place. This is being done to give the bears the space they need to feed undisturbed and for public safety reasons in an effort to keep the many visitors safe, many of whom are unprepared for potential encounters with bears on the trails! Avoiding areas where bears have been seen or where active warnings have been put in place can also reduce your risk of encounters.
It is crucial that people should be making lots of noise to alert any bears in the area of their presence! Bears have their heads down an dare focused on eating berries which increases the chance of surprise encounters. Garbage continues to be a major concern with people leaving garbage along trails and in day use areas. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that your garbage finds its way into a bear proof bin or, if the garbage bin is full, find another bin or pack your garbage out with you, and that includes human waste and diapers!
Grizzly sow and cub down in K-Country. Photo courtesy of Judy Cairns, Volunteer Wildlife Ambassador
Motorists are reminded to obey posted speed limits and slow down near roadside wildlife but not to stop and cause (or be part of) a bear jam on the highway. Keep moving in order to give bears the space they need to feed and to help combat roadside habituation of wildlife.
The Town of Canmore has made some changes to the off-leash dog area up at Quarry Lake and there are two distinct off-leash areas: the meadow and the pond. Dogs must be on leash at all times when outside of these areas, including when going from the meadow to the pond (see the map below). Designated off-leash dog areas are clearly delineated by signage and large white rocks. REMINDER: Dogs are not permitted at the Quarry Lake itself!
Our Volunteer Wildlife Ambassadors have been spending time in the Quarry Lake area over the past few weeks educating residents and visitors about the impacts on wildlife of leaving garbage behind, walking with dogs off-leash and not making enough noise while using the trails during berry season just to name a few. Most of the people they spoke with have been receptive but there continue to be people who ignore important messaging and signage without consideration of the consequences their actions may have on their pets, the wildlife and other people in the area. As you will see in the Current Warnings and Closures section below, there are bears feeding on berries in that area so it is very important to make lots of noise, keep pets on a leash (when not in designated off-leash dog areas) and carry bear spray in an easily accessible location to use in case of accidental close encounters.
Even with the clear new signage, people are still ignoring the rules! -Submitted Photo
In a continued effort to reduce conflict between bears and people in Canmore, the Town of Canmore has a wildlife attractant bylaw and they are running a Voluntary Fruit Tree Removal Incentive Program to help increase compliance. People can be fined for letting fruit and berries accumulate on trees and on the ground in their yards. Click here to view and download the bylaw. Homeowners are invited to express their interest in participating in the program which will cover 50% of the cost of removal to a maximum of $300 if they use an arborist or tree removal service to remove their tree. More information and details about how to participate can be found here on their website.
A positive, proactive step that you can take is to remove fruit (such as crabapple, mountain ash and chokecherry) from your trees NOW 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. WildSmart has pruning shears and extendable fruit pickers that can be borrowed (free of charge) to assist Bow Valley residents in removing fruit and berry bushes from their property. Please send an email to info@wildsmart.ca to make arrangements to borrow the fruit picking equipment.
Extendable fruit pickers that can be borrowed from WildSmart
CURRENT WARNINGS AND CLOSURES
There is a bear warning in the area along the Powerline trail between Peaks of Grassi and the Quarry Lake off-leash dog pond due to a surprise close range encounter that a group of four people had with a black bear yesterday. The bear was likely startled while feeding on berries.
Click here for the complete list of all Alberta Parks warnings and closures in the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Country.
Click here for the complete list of all warnings and closures in Banff National Park.
Here is a list of some Annual Closures in Kananaskis Country.
Click here for current information from Alberta Parks about visiting their parks during COVID-19. Click here for current information from Parks Canada about visiting their parks during COVID-19.
For more information on areas in the Bow Valley frequented by bears at this time of year visit our human-bear conflict summary map.
AND NOW SOME PAWS-ITIVE NEWS
We talk a lot about berry season and scat at this time of year but what if we could re-purpose bear scat and put it to good use? Take a look at this recent article that talks about how a Kamloops man is using bear scat to isolate seeds and then plant them to grow plants such as huckleberries, wild roses, Saskatoon berries and red osier dogwood.
Remember: if you do come across fresh scat out on the trails, be extra vigilant, make extra noise to alert potential bears of your presence, do not linger in areas with fresh scat, and consider turning around if you are not prepared to handle a possible encounter with a bear.
Just look at all those seeds that could be harvested from bear scat! We, however, recommend leaving the scat where you found it ;)
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