Bear aware: Elk Island National Park educating tourists on black bear sightings

Bears are awake and roaming in Elk Island National Park. Visitors are being warned to take necessary steps when in the park.

A popular park just east of Edmonton is reminding spring visitors that black bears are being spotted at increasingly frequent rates, meaning those who come across the animals will need to stay safe and mindful.

Bears were historically less common in Elk Island National Park, officials say; forced out to counterbalance the preservation of elk populations.

“There’s a million (elk in North America) today, thanks to a number of the transfers we’ve done and some of the recovery efforts,” ecologist Ramona Maraj explained Wednesday.

“Elk Island became really important for elk, and because of that, anything that predated on elk was thought to be undesirable at the time.”

But increasing regional populations means grizzly and black bears are now active on the site year-round alongside the typical elk, bison and moose.

“How do we co-exist with bears as they come back and return to this ecosystem? It’s not like that is something that we have to invent the wheel on … this is a phenomenon that’s happening North America-wide, and it’s not something that we’re going to be able to change,” she said.

With that in mind, Parks Canada is encouraging seasonal tourists to practice their best “bear aware” behaviour.

This includes making noise while hiking, staying on official trails, keeping pets leashed, not stopping for bears along roadways and properly storing food, garbage and scented items.

“We have to respect the bears’ space. We have to learn how to deal with encounters, and we have to make sure that we don’t do things like get them used to (people) stopping roadside to watch them,” Maraj explained.

Stopping to feed the bears at the side of the road, for example, could condition the bears to become too comfortable around humans, which could quickly complicate campground interactions and end in either a dead human or dead bear.

“So we hope that we can educate people that those behaviours just aren’t really something that’s great,” she said.

Officials are currently studying what the growing bear population may mean for bison in the park.

More information on staying pre-’bear’-ed can be found on the Parks Canada website.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson