'Be prepared to encounter a bear at anytime' in Banff townsite, Parks Canada warns residents

Bears are a little too close to home for Banffites. And because of that, Parks Canada has issued a blanket warning to anyone in the area: if you're out and about, you could run into a bear. 

Officials declined an interview request, but said the warning was posted after reports of multiple bears frequenting the townsite.

A communications officer for Parks Canada said in a statement that this type of warning is not uncommon in and around the Town of Banff, especially at this time of year when bears are trying to fatten up before winter. 

The warning urges special caution throughout the town, and suggests visitors and residents should be prepared to "encounter a bear at any time." 

Nick De Ruyter, program director of WildSmart at the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, said he thinks the warning is an effective way to try to reduce human-bear interactions.

"I think it's a good way to try and spread that message and really show that this is for real, [that] you might run into a bear anywhere in town," said De Ruyter. 

"It really just helps people think about it and take it maybe a little bit more seriously … Because as we've seen, there are serious consequences for the wildlife. For example, bears, they could get euthanized, but there's also the public safety risk. People could get injured too."

When bears enter the Town of Banff, manager of environment Michael Hay and his team are there to assist Parks Canada in one key way: securing wildlife attractants. 

The list of what is considered a wildlife attractant is long, but a key focus right now are the town's crab apple trees, a tempting snack for bears.

A few weeks ago, Bear No. 122 — a huge, adult grizzly also known as The Boss — was spotted feasting on crab apples in backyards last weekend, returning to the area three days in a row. It had to be hazed from residents' backyards, with the 650-pound animal bluff charging residents in the process.

De Ruyter said crab apples are an easy, calorie-dense meal for bears, and that the animals will sometimes return year after year to the same tree once they know it's there. 

In the coming weeks, about a dozen crab apple trees are coming down from properties in the Town of Banff, which may not seem like a lot, but Hay said it's going to make a dent.

"Since last year, this is a major uptick in the number of trees that we've removed," said Hay. 

"We probably have 25 or 30 crab apple trees left in the community at this stage. So getting a dozen removed is a big impact."

Property owners don't have to remove trees if they agree to proactively pick fruit before it ripens and becomes a target for bears, an alternative measure that Hay said has been quite effective.

"Residents have been amazingly supportive of our efforts to help you with this challenge, not just the fruit tree challenge but also with garbage and recycling and other attractants over the years," said Hay. 

Canmore has already placed bans on certain tree and shrub species that attract bears, Hay said, a move that the Town of Banff could follow in coming years. 

"What we've learned, I think, is that as we remove one attractant, another attractant can then become more preferable to bears," said Hay.

"Bears are a part of living in the Town of Banff and we have to be ready for that as residents inside a National Park. So this issue will continue to evolve and we'll need to continue to adapt our efforts."

Outside of the national parks, increased bear activity around human settlements in Calgary and Bragg Creek have also prompted warnings and education campaigns by local authorities. 

Alberta's Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC) is currently reviewing its status on grizzly bears as a threatened species, which could impact whether or not the province reinstates tags for hunting grizzly bears. 

But Jay Honeyman, the province's former human-wildlife conflict specialist, doesn't think a grizzly hunt would do much to lessen human-bear interactions. 

"I see the human-bear conflict issue [as] completely separate from the hunt," said Honeyman.

Honeyman believes officials have managed human and wildlife interactions within the province's parks well, and that the bigger issues lie in private land areas, where people live and work in bear country. 

"There's a lot of attractant issues out there in the way of agricultural attractants, garbage, fruit trees, this kind of thing," he said. 

"Bears are constantly in search of food and we need to better manage the food that's out in the private lands because that's where a lot of bears are taking the hit and causing significant public safety concerns and property damage for land owners."

Back in the Town of Banff, officials recommend staying alert while outdoors, making noise while hiking and cycling, travelling in groups, keeping pets on a leash and carrying bear spray. 

If you see a bear, Parks Canada said reports can be made to the Visitor Centre or Banff Dispatch at 403-762-1470.