A grizzly bear.Photo:Getty
Getty
A grizzly bear killed a couple and their dog at Canada’s Banff National Park on Friday, shortly before the bear was euthanized for displaying “aggressive behavior.”
The park — one of the country’s 37 national parks — announced the deaths on itsFacebookpage Sunday, when it revealed that Parks Canada Dispatch were alerted to a bear attack via GPS at around 8 p.m. MT Friday.
According to Banff National Park’s post, the attack took place in the Red Deer River Valley, where Parks Canada sent out the Wildlife Human Attack Response Team in response.
At 5 a.m., Sundre Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrived at the scene and transported the victims to Sundre, Alberta, per the Facebook post. The area of the reported bear attack was thenclosed as a result.
“This is a tragic incident, and Parks Canada wishes to express its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” Banff National Park said.
Banff National Park.Getty
Kim Titchener, a friend of the family and the founder of Bear Safety and More, toldReutersthat the victims of the bear attack were a couple and their dog. Titchener added that bear encounters are increasing as more people go outside, but that fatal attacks are rare.
“It’s really just the reason why we’re seeing more attacks, which is more people heading outdoors and unfortunately not being educated on this,” she said.
Both grizzly and black bears inhabit the Banff National Park area, and Titchener told Reuters that the estimated 60 grizzly bears living there are considered to be a threatened population in local Alberta.
Steve Searles of Animal Planet’s reality showThe Bear Whisperertold PEOPLE shortly after that, still, “there are countless, tens of thousands [of] encounters every day without it going bad, without an incident.”
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Grizzlieshave killedeight peoplein Yellowstone National Park since 1872, as previously reported. And Searles, who co-wrote his new bookWhat the Bears Knowwith columnist Chris Erskine, told PEOPLE this summer that if you encounter a bear, you should not run from it, as they “run 35 miles an hour.”
“We’re just about to go into a really busy time where bears will be seen day and night and feeding,” he added in August. “And so that’s a time where you should be more aware of your surroundings, situationally aware of where you live, the likelihood of encountering a bear, and take that into account, whatever you’re doing — riding bicycles or kayaking.”
As for if a bear approaches you, the Animal Planet star recommended making “a loud noise” and holding your “hands above your head.” Bear spray is also a viable defense option, per the authors.
“Steve’s message is, ‘I hate fear. I hate what it does to us, what it deprives us of,'” Erskine said. “And that, to me, is the great message. And that’s what we learned from being outdoors and dealing with the things we don’t understand. And as we learn to understand them, we appreciate them."
source: people.com
