Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers search for ‘dangerous bear’ west of Calgary
A day after a hunter was rushed to hospital by air ambulance after being attacked by a grizzly bear, a sign posted on a fence in the rural area where the attack happened warns people to “keep out” because of a “dangerous grizzly bear” in the area.
On Thursday, fish and wildlife said in a written statement that two men were hunting south of Cochrane, Alta., located about 50 minutes west of Calgary, when one of them was attacked by a grizzly bear.
The second hunter shot the bear and it was “believed to be deceased.”
A second bear fled the area following the encounter.
However, while Global News observed fish and wildlife officers working in the area on Friday, nobody from the department responded to inquiries for further details about the attack, whether fish and wildlife officers had confirmed the offending bear is dead or the search for the other bear.
Area resident Ray Nicoll said it’s well known to people who live in the area that there are bears about, including a sow with cubs.
“Generally, you don’t see them. They’re pretty much nocturnal, but every now and then we do run across one,” said Nicoll.
“She had cubs. That’s what they’re trying to catch right now.”
Kim Tichner, owner of the company Bear Safety and More, says it’s no surprise that some bears are still out and about that haven’t gone into hibernation.
“It varies each season. If we have vegetation stay out longer, we have a warmer fall. We’re going to have bears out for a longer period,” said Tichner.
“Climate change studies are coming back and showing that we are going to see some of those food sources such as berry bushes coming later. So there is going to be bears awake longer as they feed on some of these food sources and it certainly has been an incredible fall and bears are still out.”
Tichner advises that if you are heading to bear country at this time of year, be prepared.
“Hunting of course it is a sport that is more high risk. People are having to be quiet. They are often by themselves or with one other person. So for them it is tough. They can’t make noise but they can go in groups and they can wear bear spray physically on them in a holster. It could save their lives,” said Tichner.
“For recreationists I would definitely say make noise. Travel in groups. Again, carrying that bear spray physically on your body. Letting out whoops and hollers every couple of minutes as you’re walking, keep your dog on a leash and watch for signs of bear activity.”
And if you do encounter a bear, Tichner says, don’t run, take a breath, pull out the bear spray, remove the safety and try to determine why the bear is behaving the way it is. Does it have cubs? Did you surprise it while it was feeding? If it’s not moving toward you, she advises to slowly back away. If you are attacked by a defensive bear, drop to the ground and play dead while protecting the back of your neck and stay quiet until the bear stops its attack and leaves the area.
“They are perfectly capable of killing human beings if they want to,” said Tichner.
“We are fortunate that most of the time they don’t. Most of the times they just turn and they run away. They want to get as far away from you as much as you want to away from them. In the rare case that they do attack, that’s why we want you to have bear spray so you can use it to stop the attack,” added Tichner.
“It’s a highly effective tool. Fatality rates with grizzly bear attacks are actually quite low. It’s very rare that a person actually dies — and your chances of survival are so much better if you take bear safety training.”
Nicoll, who said he knows one of the two people involved, describes them as “good hunters.”
“You know, common sense goes a pretty long way. When you’re in bear country, there’s bears,” said Nicoll.
“They sure as hell weren’t asking for trouble. I mean, they had bear spray, but how long are you gonna take to get bear spray to get activated? It was just that fast.”
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