A scared black bear has been up a tree in the middle of the Trans-Canada Highway east of Banff for well over 24 hours, prompting wildlife experts to warn motorists to drive carefully and obey all signs and speed limits.
A cinnamon-coloured black bear made its way onto the highway around 8 a.m. on Monday (June 16) near Carrot Creek, and when wildlife crews opened a gate to try to get it to safety, another black bear got onto the highway.
Parks Canada and RCMP temporarily shut down the highway to keep both bears safe. They managed to haze one of the bruins back to the other side of the wildlife fence, while the other scampered up a tree in the median between the east and westbound lanes.
Parks officials say the animal is stressed and there are no plans to tranquilize or handle the animal.
“We are continuing to try to manage the situation. We were optimistic it would come out on its own overnight, but didn’t,” said Steve Michel, human-wildlife conflict specialist for Banff National Park, in an interview Tuesday morning (June 17).
“The only intervention options are dangerous for the bear, so we are going to continue to monitor and hope it comes down on its own.”
Three black bears were killed in the mountain parks this week, while another one was hit, but not killed, by a vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway on Monday. The fate of that injured bear is not known.
Parks Canada urges motorists to drive carefully and obey speed limits, noting animals can get onto the highway even in areas where the road is fenced, especially black bears that can easily scramble over the top.
“We have a lot of bears moving back and forth across the transportation highways and all are concentrated in the valley bottoms because of the snow still up high,” said Michel.
“We ask all motorists to to be extra vigilant and conscious of their speed and be aware that there could be wildlife on the highways.”
