EDUCATORS IN RESIDENCE HI-CASTLE MOUNTAIN
Black Bear
(An example of what not to do with any wild animal encounter.)
Length: male: 137-188 cm; female: 77- 177 cm
Height: 90-105 cm at shoulder
Weight: 92-267 kg. (203-595 lbs)
Life span: 20 years plus in the wild
Habitat: through much of Canada, in the Rockies they are common in the Montane Zone, and
occasionally seen in the sub-alpine up to tree line.
Diet
The bear’s diet is about 75% vegetarian. In spring they eat dandelions, sprouting grass, cambium (the
inner bark of trees). By summer, they consume berries, flowers, cow parsnip, horsetails, hedysarum, fish,
insects, rodents, and ground squirrels. They are good opportunists and will scavenge or kill a larger
mammal if circumstances make it an easy source of food.
Reproduction
Females can mate as early as their third year. Mating season occurs from early June through late July.
The fertilized egg does not implant in the uterine wall until October or November, preventing the fetus
from developing and ensuring the birth occurs during hibernation next winter. This process is called
delayed implantation. One to three (on average two) cubs are born in late January or February. The
mother comes out of hibernation to give birth then falls back asleep while the cubs nurse until spring.
Each cub weighs 250-500 grams at birth, by the time they leave the den in April they will weigh about 1.5
kg. A female may have cubs every 2-3 years when there is sufficient food available. The survival rate for
cubs is less than 50% in their first year.
Predators
Wolves may kill small bears; adult males will kill cubs; and grizzlies may kill a smaller black bear.
Black bears are not always black. The Kermode bear found along the west coast is white and brown or
cinnamon bears are found throughout western Canada. Glacial bears found in the Yukon have a
distinct blue shade. These are all black bears. The bears are considered carnivores, but they are
omnivores with meat making up only a very small percentage of their diet. They tend to be solitary
animals, except during mating, and when the sow is raising her cubs. Bears will also tolerate each other’s
presence in exceptional feeding areas such as rivers during fish spawning and garbage dumps. The rest
of the time, they have defined territories but appear to be fairly tolerant of incursions from other black
bears.
Grizzly Bear
Length: 180-213 cm.
Weight: 147-680 kg (323-1496 lbs.) In the Rockies, males: 250-320 kg; females 200 kg. or less
Life span: 15-34 years (up to 47 years in captivity)
Habitat
Grizzlies once roamed as far east as Hudson Bay and south to northern Mexico. Today they are confined
to relatively undisturbed sections of Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
In the Rockies they winter in dens near tree line, moving down into the valleys in spring, feeding along
avalanche slopes and occasionally alpine meadows in the summer and fall, depending on the
availability of food in each area.
Diet
Grizzlies have a varied diet. In spring it is made up of new grass, dandelions, horsetails, roots, ground
squirrels, and carrion. By summer the diet expands to include berries; a single bear can eat 200,000
buffalo berries in one day. Cow parsnip and Hedysarum are also on the menu. Grizzlies will eat fish,
marmots, scavenge off another animals kill, and in the right circumstances kill young or weakened
members of the deer family.
Reproduction
Females are sexually mature by six or seven years of age. Mating season occurs from late June through
early July. The fertilized egg does not implant in the uterine wall until October or November, preventing
the fetus from developing and ensuring the birth occurs during hibernation next winter. This process is
called delayed implantation. One to four (on average two) cubs are born in late January or February.
The mother comes out of hibernation to give birth, falling back asleep while the cubs nurse until the
spring. Each cub weighs 340-680 grams at birth; by the time they leave the den in April they will weigh
about 10 kg. A female may have cubs every 3-4 years when there is sufficient food available. The
survival rate for cubs is less than 50% in their first year.
Predators
The great bear has few predators, grizzly males will kill cubs, people will hunt, or destroy the bears' territory
(both having the same effect). Conflicts with people and transportation corridors are the greatest cause
of bear mortality in the National Parks.
Background
Grizzlies have become a symbol of our vanishing wilderness. The earliest known-recorded sighting of a
grizzly by a European in Canada was in 1690. Though only twenty years old, Henry Kelsey was sent by the
HBC to lower Manitoba to encourage trade with the natives, on this journey he records seeing Plains
Grizzly. We often think of the great bear as a mountain species, but in fact the Plains Grizzly was larger
and much more numerous than the bears living throughout the mountains of western Canada today.
The Plains Grizzly is now extinct. It is estimated that there may have been 6000 grizzlies in Alberta prior to
1800.
Bear Encounters and Travel in
Bear Country
If you see a bear when driving:
In light traffic:
 Slow down to avoid hitting other vehicles, or the bear
 If you wish to view the bear, pull off the road if there is a safe shoulder or parking area, otherwise
continue driving
 Never get out of your car
 Never feed a bear, this is the beginning of the death of that bear.
 Watch the road to avoid accidents
In heavy traffic:
 Slow down
 Watch the road
 Keep driving
Travel in Bear Country
Hiking in Bear Country
 It is best to avoid an encounter by avoiding the bear. Common sense and careful observation
will greatly reduce the risk of a bear attack.
 Be observant of any signs indicating the presence of bears, such as prints, scats, and diggings.
 If you see a bear give it a large detour (several hundred metres) and never approach a bear.
Retreat if avoidance is not possible.
 Never approach a carcass, it may be claimed by a bear.
 In areas of poor visibility make noise to alert the bear of your presence. Do not rely on “bear bells”
to provide sufficient noise to alert a bear to your presence.
 Traveling in larger groups reduces the risk of an aggressive encounter, with six or more appearing
to be the magic number to prevent an encounter/charge.
 In the event of an aggressive bear encounter, bear spray is an effective last resort. Be familiar with
the proper how and when to use it, before you enter bear territory.
Camping in Bear Country
 It is very important to keep a clean camp. Improperly stored food and abandoned garbage
may attract bears. If a bear becomes habituated to finding food and feeding in a camp the
chance of attack is much greater. Too many bears have been killed by the parks service
because campers were careless.
 Cook away and down wind from the tent. Never cook in your tent
 Store food and any scented materials (soap, tooth paste, cosmetics, etc.) at least 70 metres
downwind of camp. Hang the food at least four metres off the ground. If you are above tree line
store food in plastic bite proof cylinders, or airtight bags at least one hundred metres from camp.
Most backcountry campsites in the parks have bear poles to hang food.


Keep the camp clean. Store all garbage in airtight bags and hang it with the food. If the camp
is littered when you arrive, clean the area and pack out the litter. Do not throw garbage or food
scraps in the outhouse.
Leave all packs outside and away from the tent.
If you ever should encounter a bear in a campground, or on the trail:
 Stay calm and do not run.
 Talk softly, avoid direct eye contact, and begin walking away from the bear. Watch for signs of
aggressive behavior. Snapping its jaws, making a woofing sound, a lowered head, and laying its
ears back are all aggressive gestures.
 If you are in a group, stay together. The larger and more concentrated the group, the more
intimidating you are to a bear.
 Look for options to avoid further approaching the bear, or to leave the area.
 In most circumstances the bear will either ignore you or leave the area. If the animal approaches
you it is time to plan your escape/defense.
 Keep your group together and slowly retreat without making direct eye contact with the bear. Do
not run and do not loose sight of the animal.
 Basically treat the bear as a big mean dog that you want nothing to do with.
 Contrary to popular rumour, both Black Bears and Grizzlies can run down-hill and climb trees; top
speeds can reach 60km/hr.
In the rare event of a charge where you have no immediate protection, there are no hard and fast rules
about what is the best defense. These practices have proven useful:





Use bear spray. Remember that most sprays are only effective at close range (within six metres)
and are affected by the prevailing winds. If you are spraying upwind your range will be more
limited and you too may become incapacitated by the spray’s drift. Once you have used bear
spray, leave the area. The active ingredient is capsicum (found in chili peppers). It smells
pleasantly spicy and tastes pretty good in small quantities. This can actually serve as a potential
later attractant to other bears. Also check the canister every spring as the contents do have an
expiry date. Don’t test it on your hiking partners.
Keep your pack on. In the event of an attack it can protect your back and neck.
If you are being attacked by a grizzly bear put your hands behind your neck, lay face down, and
spread your legs. Keep the pack on to protect your back and do not let the bear roll you over on
to your front. In many cases, the attacking bear is a female protecting her cubs. These are
usually very short duration attacks and the victim suffers relatively minor injuries; playing dead may
be a good defense. In the extremely rare event of a predatory attack (the bear was stalking you),
or the bear begins to chew on you, current research suggests one should fight back with all the
strength and resources available. This is an extremely rare scenario, but if the bear is feeding on
you, then your only hope of survival is to convince the animal that you are no easy meal.
If you are being attacked by a black bear it is recommended to fight back immediately as they
are generally more easily intimidated
Climbing trees was once considered a reasonable defense against an attack. It may offer you
some protection, but there is mounting evidence that it is not a reliable strategy and could also
increase the risk and severity of a bear attack. An angry G rizzly bear can climb a tree at least as
fast as an average person.
Grizzly Bear Status in Banff National Park
Grizzly Bears are often called an indicator or umbrella species. What this means is that the presence of
grizzly bears on a landscape indicates that the area remains relatively wild. If a healthy grizzly bear
population can survive then many other species will also do well in the landscape. Part of what makes
grizzly bears good indicators of wilderness are:



The female’s very low reproductive rate of only ~0.5 cubs per year. This low rate makes
repopulation of communities that have lost a significant number of bears very slow.
Male Grizzlies have an average home range of 1560 km2 in Banff National Park, while female
grizzlies have an average home range of 305 km2. These large territories mean that massive
tracts of land are required to sustain a healthy population.
Grizzlies are apex predators, meaning that minor disturbances lower in the food chain can have
major impacts to Grizzly populations.
There is current evidence of widespread habitat degradation, fragmentation in Banff. If Grizzly
populations begin to decline, it indicates that overall “health” of Banff's wilderness is threatened.
Current research indicates that transportation corridors are the major source of loss of habitat and
fragmentation in Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay. Despite the clear hazard of transportation corridors, these
areas can be attractive to bears for several reasons:



Early vegetation in spring; open areas along the road receive more sunlight and green sooner
A more closed forest canopy from fire suppression has reduced the number of buffalo berry
bushes, and staple food for grizzlies. Open roadways have a higher concentration of the bushes.
Grain spills from rail cars on the railroad and transport trucks attracts bears
Females are more likely to utilize habitat near roads than males. The disturbance of a transportation
corridor discourages males from using the area. Well-established males and females occupy the best
habitat areas for food, security, and minimal human intrusions. Younger females who are less
established have to use lower quality habitat, but need a more secure area for their cubs (males will kill
cubs). Habitat near heavily developed areas offers some protection against males, who are less likely to
come this close to humans. This leads to a disproportionate number of females in their reproductive
years coming into conflict with people, leading to the bear’s death. Harassment or adverse conditioning
of bears through dogs, rubber bullets, etc. has been used to try to prevent bears from using roadside
habitat in the presence of people.
Dark Days for the Great Bear
"The status of national parks as protected areas, and therefore refugia for large carnivores, has been
taken for granted since their creation over 100 years ago. Incremental recreational development has
never been considered a threat to this protected status. As we approach the close of the twentieth
century we need to reconsider this paradigm. With continued erosion of grizzly bear habitat in what is
supposed to be core refugia, hanging in the balance, time is clearly not on the park manager's side.
Swift, and in some cases drastic, management action is needed if we are to stem the progression of
extinction within the ecosystem."
Michael L. Gibeau, Grizzly Bear Habitat Effectiveness Model for Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National
Parks, Canada 1996
The provincial status up until the fall of 2009 maintained by the Alberta Government, states that there are
currently 500-1000 bears in the province (not including the national parks). The only scientific census of
grizzly bears ever undertaken in Alberta is working at this time to produce a more accurate number for
the province. So far the numbers do not look very promising. South of Highway 16 to the U.S.A border
where much of the best bear habitat lies, the number is about 177. For the entire province it is now
estimated that there are perhaps 581grizzly bears. The Alberta Government suspended grizzly bear
hunting in 2006, but has not followed expert recommendations to list the bears as threatened or offer
any additional protection for the species.
Dr Gordon Stenhouse, of the Foothills Research Institute, has indicated that one of the biggest immediate
threats to grizzly bears, are roads. Roads increase the number of people entering an area, which
increases conflict. Illegal (poaching) and “self defense hunting kills represent about 35% of the known
annual mortality of grizzly bears.
The grizzly bears of Jasper and Banff National Parks are not involved in the census or included in the
provincial count because they are on federal land. No accurate census has ever been attempted in
the mountain national parks, so populations are only estimated on habitat quality and observations of
individual bears. The population estimates for the parks are:
Banff: 60
Jasper: 80
A significant number of bears may use both the provincial and federal lands, which would make adding
these numbers to the provincial count not particularly accurate. Overall the population of Grizzly Bears in
Jasper appears to be stable and in no immediate threat. This makes sense since the bears are living in
one of the largest and most protected landscapes in Canada. We would expect the bears in Banff to
be doing about the same, but unfortunately, they are not.
Of the 60 grizzly bears in Banff National Park, only 16 are mature females. This means that only 16
animals in the entire 6,641 square kilometres of Banff National Park can have cubs. Females can give
birth as young as 4 years of age, and need 3-4 years to raise the cubs before mating again. Their
traditional life span is 15-34 years of age. On average a female grizzly has two cubs that have about a
50% chance of survival over the first year of life. So bears do not reproduce quickly and life is fairly
tenuous even for such a powerful predator. Now the outside pressures for bears in national parks start to
add up.
From 1980 through to 1989, 91% of all known grizzly bear mortalities in national parks were caused by
humans. Now the data is skewed because of incomplete recording methods, but the trend is pretty
clear; bears in national parks do not die of old age. Garbage, highways, and public safety issues
account for the majority of bear deaths.
The information from 1990-2008 becomes much more detailed and probably presents an increasingly
accurate picture of grizzly bear mortality.
Grizzly Bear Cause of Death in the Mountain National Parks 1990-2008
Natural Causes
Unknown Causes
9
6
Human Caused
Railroad
15
Highway
Government actions
Public Safety
Garbage
Capture handling
Total
14
Illegal
2
Total human
48
Total Grizzly Mortality
63
8
5
4
17
Of this total 3 bears died in Kootenay, 14 in Jasper , 25 in Banff, and 21in other parks
Over 75% of all grizzly bear mortality in our national parks has been at the hands of people for the last 15
years. If bears are not safe inside the very sanctuaries we have created for wildlife what chance do they
have in non-protected land?
Mortality isn't the only factor to consider when looking at grizzly bears, because everyone eventually dies.
What is a sustainable level of mortality; that is what can the bears tolerate without the population
declining? The best estimate available and the goal to which Banff National Park is working towards is no
more than 1.2% of the mature female population should be lost annually. Bears do not form family units
that include Dad, so you don't need many males to sustain a population, but you can't afford to loose
Mom. Currently the loss of females is 1.5x to double this value. If the numbers are correct then unless
something changes the grizzly bear population in Banff is heading towards a collapse. Sixty percent of all
bears killed in the mountain national parks are female.
Researchers in the Hinton area noticed that grizzly bears in and around Jasper/Hinton were having cubs
at 4-5 years of age. In Banff, many females were not yet having cubs at 9-11 years of age. This lead to
an investigation as to why there is such difference between when grizzlies started having families and the
underlying factor appears to be stress. Scientists began looking for chemical markers of stress that can
be found in blood, tissue, and hair samples of bears in both areas. Bears in Banff had much higher
indicators of stress than bears around Jasper/Hinton. Stress can significantly delay the onset of when
mammals become sexually mature. The implication is that living in the Bow Valley (area from Lake
Louise, Banff, and through to Canmore) creates an extremely stressful environment for grizzly bears that is
resulting in lower birth rates. With nearly five million visitors visiting Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise via a
connecting highway and railroad, things could be considered stressful for a female bear living in the
valley. This was not a case of Banff bears wanting to establish a career before having kids.
With a population census that is almost half the provincial estimate, and grizzly bears, within at least one
national park, in danger of decline the situation does not look good. The Alberta Government has
decided to continue suspending the grizzly bear hunt for another year, but this has caused controversy
too.
Alberta's largest conservation group, the Alberta Fish & Game Association (AFGA) calls for the: “Provincial
government to reinstitute, immediately the grizzly bear hunt in Alberta”. This is a direct quote from their
website justifying the need to resume the hunt. The recent attacks on and killings of human and animals
alike in the Sundre area are concrete examples that removing the grizzly hunt was a mistake as they are
becoming bolder and bolder.”
Local citizens and the AFGA also are skeptical about the number of grizzlies bandied about by
environmentalists and biologists that so few grizzlies exist in Alberta. “With all these attacks occurring on a
regular basis you have to wonder just how many bears there really are,” said AFGA President Quentin
Bochar. “Its common knowledge that the best thing to do to keep animals wild is to have a hunt,” he
added.
“Our Association believes in conservation first and in the case of grizzly bears a small harvest with
management controls appears to be effective in maintaining and increasing this natural resource,” said
Bochar, “Our Association will continue to urge Alberta Sustainable Resource Development to bring back
the hunt. We hope all Albertans will also express their support.” Alberta Fish and Game Association
website August 2009
It is estimated that at the beginning of the 19th century there were 6000 grizzly bears living in Alberta.
Today we have less than 10% of the historical population. At one time our ancestors lived in fear and
respect of grizzlies. Today many people have come to see grizzly bears as a symbol of our fading and
precious wilderness.