Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers responded to an unusual call to several sightings of a grizzly bear roaming through two Cochrane communities on the morning of June 28, Fireside and Rolling Range.
As of July 1, the bear, which is thought to be a sub-adult around three years old, has not been spotted in the communities since; it was spotted along Hwy 1, west of Hwy 22 around noon June 29 grazing on dumped, fermented barley.
“They’re very mobile, they’re always on the move,” said Fish and Wildlife officer David Dickson, who stopped by Rolling Range resident Elaine Wood’s property to check on the bear trap placed in her yard — near the compost bin Woods watched the bear try and knock over last Saturday morning. Fish and Wildlife have also put out two additional bear traps in nearby woods surrounding the Cochrane communities.
“He was swimming across the newfound lake in my pasture,” said Wood, who removed her compost bin and bird feeders to assist in the efforts of Fish and Wildlife officers to lure the bear into the trap, should it return (sex of bear unknown as this point).
Should the bear be caught in one of the traps, it will be relocated somewhere in its range; according to Dickson, the bear’s range is believed to be north of Morley as grizzlies are most often spotted near Banff and Canmore.
Larry Weiers, a 13-year Rolling Range resident, was one of the first to spot the bear on the morning of June 28. “We were in the kitchen, where we have a good view of the wetland (Wetland #15, which is slated to be removed by developer La Vita Land unless council directs otherwise July 7),” said Weiers.
“We saw the bear stopping at the edge of Wetland #15, identified it as a grizzly bear and thought we had better notify the neighbours.”
Weiers said after notifying their neighbours with young children, they noticed an increasing number of vehicles following the bear around to catch a glimpse.
“He didn’t seem to show any fear, except some nervousness in the open areas.”
Neither Weiers nor Wood has seen a grizzly bear in the communities before.
While Dickson said that the bear appears to be motivated by hunger, “it’s still a bear”.
Dickson advised that anyone who observes a bear, black or grizzly, should call 1-800-642-3800 to notify of sighting location.
People should not get out of their vehicles or should head indoors upon a bear sighting. Hikers and bikers should turn around and head in the opposite direction and any avid outdoors person should carry bear spray with them.
