Officials in Banff and&nbsp;Canmore&nbsp;are looking to set up fences around recreation grounds and schoolyards&nbsp;to keep hungry&nbsp;ungulates from turning the town's green spaces into all-you-can-eat buffets.

Darren Enns,&nbsp;manager of development services for the Town of Banff,&nbsp;said elk and deer are especially drawn in by the "unnatural attraction" that is turf grass.

"We like to call it a salad bar for ungulates," Enns&nbsp;said. "That's something that we're trying to recalibrate and remember that we're trying to live near wildlife, not necessarily with wildlife."

Steer clear of elk during rutting season, wildlife experts caution

Wildlife experts in Canmore and Banff are reminding locals and visitors to be extra careful around elk this time of year, as rutting season has come again.

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2006 file photo, a bull elk keeps a watchful eye on a herd of cow elk in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colo. Parks Canada says it euthanized an elk in Jasper National Park after it injured a woman in a parking lot. In an emailed statement, Parks Canada says the woman was in a lot at Pyramid Bench last week when the female elk knocked her down and kicked her. 

Elk Attacks Woman 20180905

In this 2006 file photo, a bull elk keeps a watchful eye on a herd of cow elk in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colo. 

Banff town council is being asked to approve a fence around the recreation grounds as part of their budget deliberations.

There's also a proposal in Canmore to fence off the field at Lawrence Grassi Middle School and Centennial Park.

"The challenge of course is that&nbsp;with the elk can come predators, and so the ability for animals that are preying on elk to come into our developed areas increases when the elk are in these areas start with," Enns said.

According to the Town of&nbsp;Canmore's&nbsp;capital budget documents, the province has been clear with the town that fencing off the school and Centennial Park is a priority in the community. Alberta Environment and Parks has provided $75,000 in funding to help with costs.

The Town of Canmore is looking at installing fencing around Lawrence Grassi Middle School-Centennial Park to keep away hungry ungulates who like to feed on the turf.

Canmore fencing

Beyond council approval, any development within&nbsp;Banff National Park is subject to an environmental impact assessment, which allows Parks Canada to give their input on the proposed solution.

"We set an aggressive goal to eliminate human/wildlife conflict by 2028. And certainly this is a step in that direction," Enns said.

"We like to think of Banff as having a number of successes already,&nbsp;for example bear-proof garbage bins, and we think we can expand on that."

Hungry ungulates are attracted to large patches of grass at the recreation grounds in Banff and the Lawrence Grassi Middle School-Centennial Park green space in Canmore.

Banff, Canmore look to fence off 'salad bars for ungulates'

More Stories Like This