The Boss, one of Banff’s best-known bears, has roamed the Bow Valley for decades — but as he advances in age, what does his future hold? Bear 122 is believed to be in his mid-to-late 20s and the lifespan for a wild grizzly is an average of 20-25 years. Parks Canada wildlife ecologist David Laskin says just because The Boss is legendary, it doesn’t mean he gets special treatment. “He’s no different than any other grizzly bear in the park,” Laskin said. “We use a suite of proactive management tools to make sure that he can live out his years, his retirement years, without any kind of incident.” Laskin says Parks Canada focuses on public education for the growing number of tourists who come to the area. “Reminding people to give him space — and all bears — at least 100 metres or more, to keep their food attractants secure,” he said. “He is coexisting in a landscape that sees millions of visitors.” Laskin says The Boss roams some 2,000-square-kilometres within Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks. “He spends a lot of time near human-use areas,” he said. Email indicates bear could be lethally removed Through an access to information request, CTV News obtained an email sent from a Parks Canada employee to two other employees in April 2025, in which it was suggested that a “proactive discussion” was needed about management of Bear 122. The email, from a Parks Canada wildlife ecologist/veterinarian, suggested that because of the bear’s advanced age, declining condition and high level of habituation, The Boss should be managed “more aggressively.” “We’ve also begun working to proactively ‘prepare’ our management and ER teams for the possible scenario where we need to lethally remove 122 from the landscape due to public safety or welfare concerns,” the email said. Laskin, who neither sent nor received the email, addressed the correspondence with CTV News. “The lethal removal of bears is a management tool that can be used — but that’s something that is extraordinarily rare,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we can do before coming to that point, and only once those are exhausted would we ever even consider it — even more so in the case of (Bear) 122. ” Petition fights against potential of euthanasia Concerns that Parks Canada was considering the possibility of lethally removing The Boss were first reported in the Rocky Mountain Outlook in July, which prompted Donna Buchanan to start an online petition pushing against euthanasia. “There is no reason any animal, wild or otherwise, should be euthanized,” said Buchanan, petition said. “It’s so unfair because he has been an icon for almost 30 years.” As of Wednesday, the petition had more than 2,000 signatures. Nick de Ruyter of the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley says to help keep The Boss safe, the public has to do its job. “The potential problems arise when photographers, hikers, bikers, trail users, trying to find him and track him and get too close,” he said. “The other potential problem that I’ve kind of seen or heard about is he follows his nose and his stomach. “He has, over the past years, followed his nose into town to eat apples from crab-apple trees.” The Boss is an icon Right along Main Street in Banff, The Boss Kitchen & Bar takes on the name of the icon. “We wanted to do something that would really kind of embody the local spirit of the town,” said general manager Steven Sachkiw. The restaurant features The Boss photos and art, as well as attire for purchase. It also has a cocktail named after him — and bear shaped ice cubes. “He’s a living legend, he is so widely known,” Sachkiw said. “Hearing about that lethal injection was kind of crazy — to think something with such beauty as The Boss that everyone has this camaraderie about, to put it down would be crazy.”
