Alberta’s Bear 148 gets Twitter and posts about homesickness, animal safety

The now-infamous Bear 148 has taken to social media to tweet her worries and concerns about being “away from home.”

The six-year-old grizzly was moved 500 kilometres north of Canmore at the end of July, after a week of daily human encounters — something she’s become known for throughout the Bow Valley.

Bear 148 sent her first tweet on Aug. 6, describing herself as “just a lost #grizzly bear trying to find my way back home!” The anonymous account has 32 followers.

https://twitter.com/BEAR_148/status/894255752814108672

Since then, she’s been actively tweeting about everything from missing home, bear and fire safety to a petition created by Banff residents aimed at saving her from being euthanized — which is the likely next step if Bear 148 charges another person outside the national park.

https://twitter.com/BEAR_148/status/894265762847662080

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https://twitter.com/BEAR_148/status/894267623768182784

The bear has made headlines several times since coming out of hibernation this spring; she followed a woman kick-sledding with two dogs along the Spray River loop in April, joined a high school rugby practice in Banff in May and was captured near Canmore and relocated twice in the month of July.

She’s now wandering around an area about 100 kilometres north of Jasper National Park. Alberta Parks officials hope she settles down in the Kakwa Wildland Provincial Park with cubs she’s expected to birth next winter.

https://twitter.com/BEAR_148/status/894983587073671168

“Canmore is a world-class example of coexistence with all wildlife and grizzly bears as one of those species,” Paul Frame, carnivore specialist with Alberta Environment and Parks’ Fish and Wildlife Policy Branch said in July.

“Yet… here is this animal living in a town, coming within one metre in a defensive or aggressive manner, on a daily basis. I think that kind of highlights the level of risk that we were dealing with.”

When Global News requested a comment from Bear 148, she tweeted back that she was “literally in the middle of nowhere” north of Jasper. She added, “Just make sure u wear your bear bell so I don’t get spooked.”

WATCH from May 12: An unexpected spectator appeared at a rugby practice in Banff. About 80 people were on the field when a bear was spotted taking a stroll

0:51 Coach describes ‘moment of panic’ as grizzly bear joins Banff high school rugby practice

Parks Canada declined to comment on the Twitter account.

— With files from Erika Tucker