Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers responded to a 911 call from a Bearspaw area woman reporting a grizzly bear in her backyard the morning of July 11.
According to Brendan Cox, spokesperson for Alberta Fish and Wildlife, officers monitored the bear all day, talking to eye witnesses, trying to track it down, and issuing a warning to residents through RCMP.
“In the evening, it looked like the bear had hunkered down in a bush area. It seemed like it was waiting out the heat of the day,” Cox said.
“As it emerged later that night, officers were able to tranquilize it and it was relocated further north.”
The sub-adult grizzly, (an individual that has passed through the juvenile period but not yet attained typical adult characteristics,) isn’t the first Fish and Wildlife has seen in urban areas this summer. There have been five bear sightings in the area east from Cochrane, through Airdrie and west to Strathmore, not including the City of Calgary.
“Usually they’ll stick to their more usual habitat like the heavily forested or mountainous regions,” he said.
Residents can make changes to their everyday lives to avoid these kinds of situations, according to Cox.
“The easiest thing to do is to clean up any attractants in your yard or on your property. Remove any bird feeders during the summer months and clean up any ripe fruit or fruit-bearing plants you have on your property. Pick the ripe fruit right away and store it inside.”
Cox also recommends not putting out your garbage until the morning of your regular pick-up day, and the use of airtight and wildlife resistant containers.
“If you live in bear country like Cochrane or Canmore, I really encourage people to carry bear spray when they’re outdoors, and know how to use it, too. If you’re walking your dogs, make sure they’re on a leash.”
Cox said most of the bears they have seen this summer have been fairly well behaved and have gone back west of their own accord.
“In recent years, it seems like more grizzly bears have been migrating from their jurisdictions in the summer months, so they could be looking for new territory. But most of the bears we see this far east, tend to wander back west.”
Cox said any bear sightings should be reported to Fish and Wildlife through the Report a Poacher hotline at 1-800-642-3800.
