The City of Calgary has closed a park in the community of Discovery Ridge because of grizzly bear activity in the area.
Yellow pathway closure signs posted in the area state that Griffith Woods Park, located along Discovery Ridge Boulevard S.W., will be “closed until further notice.”
A statement posted to Alberta Fish and Wildlife’s Facebook page indicates they received two reports of grizzly encounters on Monday night.
In one, a cyclist “startled the bear” and it “ran off.”
WATCH: Tresa Gibson explains her encounter with a grizzly bear while on a run with her dog in Calgary’s Griffith Woods Park.
In another instance, a runner “came within several metres of the bear” before noticing it was there.
Speaking about the encounters on Wednesday, Alberta Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Trevor Miller said the bear “didn’t seem bothered by the presence of people.”
“It was a bear that was just doing its own thing. During the encounters people got relatively close to it, but it didn’t make any aggressive postures or stances.”
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He said there were a couple of bear sightings in the area reported last week, which was “quite likely” the same bear encountered on Monday.
“It’s likely just one bear,” he said. “It’s not travelling in a family group – it’s just a single bear.”
“It’s been frequenting the area for quite some time,” Miller added, saying they had attempted to capture the animal since it was first reported to them.
“We were unable to capture it. We do have a large green space just to the south of us, it’s not uncommon for wildlife to move through that corridor. So we assumed that the bear had moved back to natural habitat.”
Miller said officers have since set two traps which they will check multiple times a day.
“We’ll leave them for a couple days. We generally set up some monitoring stations with trail cameras to see if a bear would come back to the trap.”
If successfully trapped, the bear will be evaluated and relocated.
Miller said they are seeing an “increase of occurrences of grizzly bears in and around” the area.
As to why they’ve been seeing an increase, Miller said it’s likely due to dry conditions which have lots of animals moving to different areas to find food.
The challenges of trapping a wild bear
Miller added there are a “lot of variables” officers have to deal with when attempting to trap a wild bear. For example, officers have to hope their trap has the most desirable food possible.
“We want to have the best bait available for him so he prefers to take our trap’s bait, versus some of the natural forage that he may find.”
What can area residents do to stay safe?
“People have to be mindful of food attractants that they have in their yard,” Miller said. “Some of the biggest issues we have, especially in the fall, are berry trees, fruit trees — that kind of thing.”
“Even bird feeders can attract bears.”
Smelly compost bins can attract all kinds of animals, including bears in cases where they have few other food sources.
Did you see the grizzly?
Sightings can be reported to Report A Poacher line at 1-800-642-3800, 24 hours a day.
For more information on bear safety, visit bearsmart.alberta.ca.
– With files from Tony Tighe
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