After several incidents where a sow black bear with two cubs born this year ran at illegally off-leash dogs at the Canmore Nordic Centre over the past three weeks, conservation officers decided on Thursday to relocate the sow and its cubs to avoid any further conflicts.

Unfortunately, one of the cubs did not survive.

“The Nordic Centre is a high use recreational family facility with people running, hiking and riding mountain bikes,” said Glenn Naylor, district conservation officer with Parks and Protected Areas. “There’s definitely a public safety issue that this could escalate once it got started. As a result the decision was made to relocate the family unit.”

A bear culvert trap was set in a closed area at the Nordic Centre Thursday. The 23-year-old sow known to Canmore residents as Timberline had been caught in a trap three times over the past 10 years and always returned to the area, so officers didn’t believe it would walk into a trap a fourth time. They darted the bear and its cubs with tranquilizers.

“One of the cubs didn’t survive during the immobilization process,” Naylor said. “The immobilization and capture process is always a stressful and traumatic event for all wildlife. To be caught and handled by humans is very stressful. Attempts were made to revive it but they were unsuccessful.”

Although the death of the cub is very unfortunate, the surviving cub now has a better chance at making it through the winter, he said.

“One surviving cub will have a better chance than two,” Naylor said.

The sow and her surviving cub were taken to the Plateau Mountain area, at the very south end of Kananaskis Country, said wildlife biologist Jon Jorgenson.

The sow had been living in the Canmore area for 10 years and in the Banff area prior to that, Naylor said.

Before this summer, Timberline never showed any aggression towards people or dogs, Jorgenson said.

“This issue has been created because of people with their dogs off leash, even in areas where it is prohibited. We now have a serious public safety issue that basically has been created by people allowing their dogs off leash,” Jorgenson said.

Something may have happened that was not reported, he added.

“What we think happened is that in the past three to four weeks, somewhere around this community or in a park, Timberline has had an altercation with dogs off leash that have threatened her and her cubs,” Naylor said. “As a result, she suddenly started becoming aggressive towards dogs. We have no record of her doing that in the past.”

Timberline is collared with a telemetry collar, so officers can monitor the sow’s location if they are in its area.

“We hope that she (and her cub) will survive,” Jorgenson said. “The cub has a chance if it stays with her and if she is a good mother. The biggest concern is that they will have to deal with grizzly bears and other black bears in the area. Grizzlies are quite predatory.”

Jim Pissot, executive director of Defenders of Wildlife Canada, was disappointed to hear the news of the bears.

“This is the first failure of Bow Valley WildSmart,” said Pissot, who is a board member for the organization. “We’ve had a few good successes to date. But because we had a situation where people misbehaved, a longtime resident bear and her two cubs have had to pay the price.”

Pissot asked how many citations were issued to people with dogs off leash and how many people were observed walking their dogs off leash.

“This is a very serious issue,” Pissot said. “The question to WildSmart would be, that if it were under fully resourced circumstances, what would the community have done differently?”

Relocation doesn’t always work, he said.

“Relocating bears is just like taking the bunnies from south Canmore down to Old Camp,” Pissot said. “It’s like killing them out of sight, where there’s no cameras and no reporters.”

“This is a situation that involves bears and people,” Pissot said. “We fly the bear out of sight. But what are we going to do with the people who are up at the Nordic Centre right now, at this very minute, with their dogs off leash, contrary to the law.”

“We’re now busy creating the next crisis,” Pissot said. “What are we going to do about it?”

The area is patrolled and monitored and tickets have been given to people disobeying the law, Naylor said.

Late Tuesday, a person reported seeing a grizzly bear with two cubs on Junction Three by the Banff Trail at the Nordic Centre.

“We are trying to confirm wether it is a grizzly or black bear,” Naylor said.

“Either way, we are putting warning signs up in the area. Officers will be monitoring the area.”

Warning signs are also up on the Many Springs Trail in Bow Valley Provincial Park due to a grizzly bear in the area.

This year there is a bumper crop of buffaloberries and people going into wooded areas should stay alert, carry bear spray, travel in groups, make noise and of course, keep dogs on-leash Naylor said.

Source: Pam Doyle – Canmore Leader