A grizzly bear attacked and killed two people and their dog in Alberta’s Banff National Park, according to Canadian park officials and a friend of the victims.
The Parks Canada agency, responsible for managing the country’s national parks, indicated in a press release published this Saturday that it had received an alert the day before from a GPS device indicating a bear attack.
The bear was shot after exhibiting aggressive behavior, the agency said.
The victims are a Canadian couple and their dog, according to Kim Titchener, founder of Bear Safety and More. Titchener, who teaches bear safety and evaluates their behavior, said human-bear encounters are becoming more common as more people venture outside, but fatal attacks are extremely rare.
“That’s why we’re seeing more attacks. There are more people exploring nature and, unfortunately, they’re not informed about it,” he said by phone, adding that only about 14 percent Grizzly bear attacks worldwide are deadly.
Bear sightings tend to increase in fall, when animals become more active in foraging in preparation for hibernation during the winter months.
In Banff National Park, which attracts more than four million tourists each year, grizzly bears and black bears live. Grizzly bears number about 60 and are considered a threatened population in Alberta, Titchener noted.
Parks Canada said the rescue team had to travel by land overnight to the site of the attack because weather conditions did not permit the use of a helicopter. The assistance team arrived on the scene early Saturday and found the two individuals dead, the agency detailed.
Access to the area where the attack took place has been closed, a situation that will remain in effect until otherwise indicated, Parks Canada announced.
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