2 grizzlies follow hikers down trail for 20 minutes in Banff National Park

Lily Dupuis · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 14, 2023 8:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 hours ago

Two ample grizzly bears followed 13 hikers down a way successful Banff National Park for 20 minutes — with 1 adjacent making a fewer speedy runs astatine the group.

"It's not each time that you deliberation you're really going to beryllium that adjacent to two grizzly bears," said Phoebe Nicholson, a usher with Discover Banff Tours who was starring the hike along Consolation Lake Trail adjacent Moraine Lake.

"A beauteous intense, but besides beauteous astonishing experience, to spot animals similar that successful the wild, conscionable successful their earthy habitat, going for a locomotion with us."

Nicholson, who is primitively from Australia, said it was was her archetypal ever brushwood with a grizzly contempt moving to Canada implicit a twelvemonth agone and working successful Banff arsenic a hiking usher for the past six months. 

The grizzlies remained 10 to 20 metres down the hikers for a full 20 minutes, says Nicholson, who was the lone 1 carrying carnivore spray.

WATCH | See however adjacent the bears travel to hikers arsenic they travel down the trail:

"We person had a batch of training, and I speech astir [bears] connected each of my tours arsenic well," she said, admitting she was nervous. "Knowledge-wise, I knew precisely what I should beryllium doing, but it is antithetic putting it into action."

The radical started their hike astatine Moraine Lake adjacent Lake Louise, 1 of the astir fashionable tourer attractions successful the park. One of the hikers alerted Nicholson astir the bears after proceeding rustling successful the bushes down them astir two-thirds of the mode up Consolation Lake Trail. Nicholson says the bears seemed precise large, but she believes they were a parent and its teen cub. 

"The babe 1 did a fewer speedy runs astatine 1 point, which whitethorn person been what we telephone a 'bluff charge,' which is wherever they benignant of tally astatine you to spot what your absorption is going to be," she said. 

"From my training, I cognize that that is simply a mean thing. The champion happening to bash is, of course, to enactment calm and support a slow, dilatory pace, truthful that's precisely what we did."

Eventually, the bears left the hikers, continuing their walk up the upland erstwhile the hikers reached Consolation Lake. 

"We each benignant of conscionable watched successful awe, getting our enactment backmost from what had conscionable happened," she said.

Tips to enactment safe: 'stop, talk, walk'

Nick de Ruyter, WildSmart program manager astatine the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley successful Canmore, says encounters similar Nicholson's aren't retired of the ordinary. He says bears — much similar humans — often take to locomotion connected trails due to the fact that it's easier.

"Typically erstwhile I perceive stories similar this, it's conscionable bears trying to determination from A to B, and we conscionable hap to beryllium successful their mode connected the trail," de Ruyter said. "Safely moving disconnected the way and letting them walk is astir apt 1 of the easiest and champion things you tin do."

WildSmart is simply a conservation programme for acquisition and outreach related to human-wildlife interactions and safety. De Ruyter shared his key tips for what to bash if radical brushwood a grizzly.

"In my teachings, I usage three words: stop, talk, walk."

De Ruyter says ne'er run. Instead, backmost distant dilatory and determination retired of the bear's way. In cases wherever backing up dilatory for agelong periods of clip whitethorn beryllium excessively difficult, de Ruyter says hikers tin besides dilatory determination disconnected the way erstwhile it's harmless to bash so.

He emphasizes that leaving the country slowly, talking to the carnivore successful a calm voice, and avoiding oculus interaction tin beryllium adjuvant specifically for grizzly carnivore encounters.

"Obviously, I would urge having my carnivore spray retired and acceptable to go, conscionable successful case," said de Ruyter.

An email connection from Parks Canada reminds Banff National Park visitors to ever obey warnings oregon country closures and to enactment connected the authoritative trails. Parks Canada urged radical to travel these basal carnivore information tips:

• Always support carnivore spray accessible and recognize however to usage it properly. The spray tin besides deter different large animals similar cougar oregon moose.
• Make noise. "Call out, clap, sing oregon speech loudly particularly adjacent streams, dense vegetation and berry patches, connected windy days, and successful areas of debased visibility," Parks Canada suggested.
• Keep dogs connected leashes astatine each times. It's the instrumentality and off-leash dogs tin agitate wildlife.
• Travel successful ample groups of 4 oregon much radical and enactment unneurotic connected the trail.
• Watch for the signs of bears – tracks, droppings, oregon disturbances – and permission the country if those signs are fresh.
• Report immoderate carnivore sightings instantly to the park's visitant centre or, if successful Banff National Park, to Banff Dispatch astatine 403-762-1470.