2 killed in suspected grizzly bear attack in Canada’s Banff National Park

By Paul P. Murphy, CNN

(CNN) — Two people are dead after a suspected grizzly bear attack in Canada’s Banff National Park, officials said.

Rescuers were first alerted to the incident around 8 p.m. Friday after receiving “an alert from an inReach/GPS device indicating a bear attack,” the national park said in a statement.

The alert said the incident happened in the Red Deer River Valley area of the park, which is in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

“Parks Canada immediately mobilized a Wildlife Human Attack Response Team whose members are specially trained in responding to wildlife attacks,” Banff National Park said in the statement. “Weather conditions at the time did not allow for helicopter use, and the response team travelled through the night to the location by ground.”

The response team arrived at the site around 1 a.m. Saturday and found two people dead and a grizzly bear displaying aggressive behavior, the statement said.

Parks Canada staff euthanized the bear “to ensure public safety,” and Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers arrived at the scene to assist in transporting the victims to Sundre, Alberta, about 75 miles northwest of Calgary, officials said.

“This is a tragic incident, and Parks Canada wishes to express its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” the statement said.

The deadly suspected grizzly attack in Canada happened just weeks a grizzly bear linked to the death of a woman in July near West Yellowstone was euthanized in Montana after breaking into a home through a window with a cub and taking a container of dog food.

In 2020, the same bear was also involved in an encounter that injured a person near Henrys Lake State Park in Idaho, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said in a news release.

The male cub who was near the adult grizzly was captured and was being held in Helena at the agency’s wildlife rehabilitation center before it was set to be transferred to a zoo, officials said.

And last month, portions of Custer Gallatin National Forest near Big Sky, Montana, were closed after a person was attacked by a grizzly bear while hunting, officials said.

Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park, is a popular attraction for tourists, known for its picturesque turquoise waters. Parks Canada notes the park is “home to hundreds of species, including grizzly bears, wolves, elk and more.”

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