2 female grizzly bears killed in Banff in separate incidents along railroad tracks

Bear 148, seen here in an undated handout photo, is a grizzly in the Banff area whose repeated human contacts are threatening its future. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Parks Canada, Alex P. Taylor)

Two female grizzly bears died in recent weeks in separate incidents on the railway line in Banff National Park, but the bear known as “The Boss” survived.

According to Saundi Stevens, the acting wildlife ecologist for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit, on May 27, a grizzly was struck on the railway track near Protection Mountain, just east of Lake Louise. In Banff.

“There was a second bear with that bear, and we could identify that one fairly quickly, because we know him,” she said. “That was Bear 122 (who is) just kind of the (most) well-known Bow Valley male grizzly bear.”

Bear 122 is also known as “The Boss.”

The female bear had sustained significant injuries, she said, and died while wildlife specialists were assessing the situation.

“She was in estrus, and the fact that they’re together, and the time of year, assuming they were a mating pair at that moment in time, Bear 122 wasn’t injured at all,” Stevens said, “and wasn’t reportedly struck in the incident.”

The female wasn’t familiar to responding wildlife specialists, Stevens said.

“It’s quite possible that that time of year sometimes bears come out of the back country,” Stevens said, “and so maybe it was an unknown bear to us -- maybe she was a little less familiar with the train tracks and didn’t quite get out of the way in time.”

Bath Creek Flats

The second incident took place early in the morning of May 30 when a second grizzly was struck in the Bath Creek Flats area, which is just west of the Lake Louise area.

Wildlife officers located the grizzly, which was dead and discovered a second, uninjured bear, who they believe may have been the dead bear’s sibling.

“She was not at risk and they were quite small,” Stevens said. “Both bears (were) almost about the same size, so we’re speculating that they were likely kind of sub adult sibling pair, maybe recently dispersed from their mom -- but we don’t know exactly.”

She estimated that both bears were under five years old, somewhere between three and four.