Electric fence to keep bears off highway partially operational

BANFF – Bears climbing the wildlife exclusion fence along a deadly stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff and Yoho national parks are being zapped with a low-level electric current in a bid to scare them away.

With black bears and the infamous white-coloured grizzly bear skillfully scaling the fence to feast on lush dandelions, Parks Canada is working hard to install an electric wire strand along 13 kilometres of fencing on both sides of the highway from near the Highway 93 North interchange to Sherbrooke Creek.

“It’s still a work in progress, but I’d say there’s at least half of it operational now,” said Saundi Stevens, a wildlife management specialist for Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks.

“We’re picking away at the rest of it as quickly as we can.”

The electric wire strand, which is located about 1.5 metres off the ground on the non-highway side of the fence, delivers a low-level electric shock that does not harm the bears, but hopefully sends a message to get off the fence.

“It definitely gives you a little kind of shock, but it’s not lingering and it’s nothing that will harm the bears,” said Stevens.

Grizzly bear 178, the six-and-a-half-year-old light-coloured grizzly known by locals as Nakoda, was back in the area earlier this spring, attracted to the early spring vegetation on the side of the highway.

Learning as a cub to climb the fence, the grizzly bear has caused traffic jams and put herself in harm’s way many times throughout the years.

This year, she’s been up to her usual antics of scaling the fence again, though apparently not as often as in years past.

“She learned this at an early age and became quite adept at it, but I imagine now as she’s growing larger, it gets that much more difficult for adult bears to climb posts and fences,” said Stevens.

“We haven’t had her interacting with the fence as much this year as we have seen in years past … but that could be in part due to her size where it’s just getting more difficult.”

Last year, Parks Canada’s wildlife team decided to keep bear No. 178 safer by relocating her to a more remote area within her home range in June.

At the time, she was fitted with a GPS collar to allow wildlife staff to better anticipate when she would appear alongside the roadway.

Stevens said staff have not hazed her away from the roadside to the safe side of the fence – yet.

“She has been reported on the highway, but not for several weeks and we respond to all the reports,” she said. “She hasn’t been on site when our staff arrived.”

Black bears are nimble at scaling fences, but grizzly bears are typically not.

Stevens said the shorter claws of black bears make it easier for them to climb.

“Grizzly bears have the longer claws, so they tend to hug posts as they climb,” she said.

Further west, a 10-kilometre no-stopping zone and reduced speed limit of 70km/h from Sherbrooke Creek to the Takakkaw Falls turnoff east of Field remains in effect. It is being enforced by Golden-Field RCMP and Parks Canada’s law enforcement wardens.

Last year, the sister of grizzly bear No. 178 was struck and killed on this section of the highway on June 7, while an unknown male grizzly bear seen in their company during the breeding season was hit and killed just four days later.

In an attempt to keep bears away from the dangerous highway, Stevens said Parks Canada is also managing roadside attractants like dandelions.

“The electric wire strand is just another tool that we’re really trying to implement to keep wildlife and people safe on those high-speed roadways,” she said.

As the parks get busier as summer approaches, Parks Canada reminds visitors that it is illegal to feed, entice or harass wildlife.

“Do not stop if you see a bear on the Trans-Canada Highway,” said Stevens. “On other secondary roads, we hope that they would stay in their vehicles and move along quickly and not disturb the animals.”

Please report bear sightings or wildlife incidents to Banff National Park dispatch at 403-762-1470.