Alberta’s Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services are currently investigating a grizzly bear attack on a hunter that occurred in the Springbank area, located west of Calgary. The hunter’s partner shot and killed the attacking grizzly, while another bear fled the scene after the incident. The status and age of the second bear are unknown, but it is believed to be part of a mother-cub pair according to Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen.

The future of the fleeing bear hinges on various factors, as explained by retired Alberta Fish and Wildlife officer John Clarke. Depending on the bear’s age and ability to survive without its mother, the wildlife authorities may choose to leave it undisturbed. The bear response guide of the province outlines options for orphaned cubs, including retention in a zoo, euthanasia, or no action. Grizzly bear cubs cannot be rehabilitated and released back into the wild under the Alberta Wildlife Act, unlike black bears.

Recent incidents involving grizzly bears near human habitats have raised concerns about the animals’ increasing proximity to populated areas in Alberta, as mentioned by Minister Loewen. The province’s grizzly bear management plan categorizes core and support areas for the bears, but encounters are now being reported further east and north of these designated regions.

The surge in grizzly bear population in Alberta, estimated to be between 865 and 973 bears, has contributed to their movement into more human-populated zones. Minister Loewen also expressed worries about the rising incidents of grizzly bear attacks on livestock, with 62 confirmed reports of such incidents this year. This attack on the hunter marks one of the three grizzly bear attacks responded to by the province this year, including a non-fatal mauling along the St. Mary River and the Diamond Valley encounter that left two cubs under the care of the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.