{"id":268376,"date":"2025-11-07T08:07:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T08:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/268376\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T08:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T08:07:13","slug":"recent-bear-attacks-close-encounters-prompt-calls-to-bring-back-albertas-grizzly-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/268376\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent bear attacks, close encounters prompt calls to bring back Alberta\u2019s grizzly hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An effort by the Alberta government to protect its grizzly bear population may be too successful.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A number of close calls and videos showing the animals near livestock have some musing about reinstating the long-banned grizzly hunt.<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas Lagarde, who has been a rancher near Pincher Creek, Alta., for seven years now, says he\u2019s never seen as many grizzly bears on his property as he has in the last few months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year has been the craziest for us. We\u2019ve seen 16 individual grizzly bears,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone has seen that the population has now increased and now there\u2019s definitely a lot more conflicts in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His livestock guardian dog, Fenrir, is specially trained to keep his cattle safe. Still, there have been close calls, including last spring when a bear charged at Lagarde\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, Sophie Noelkes, and several calves.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I saw (the bear) coming uphill, he was standing on his back legs and looked super scary and Fenrir had to attack or started chasing him away,\u201d said Noelkes.<\/p>\n<p>The province has had a ban on hunting grizzly bears since 2006, however a wildlife management program <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/10613096\/alberta-wildlife-management-grizzly-bears\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">introduced in 2024 allowed for the killing of \u201cproblem grizzlies.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One bear has been killed so far under that program, but the minister in charge believes more should be done.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s definitely grizzly bears that are moving into areas (where) we haven\u2019t seen them for quite some time and so it does appear like the population is rising and the distribution of them is spreading,\u201d said Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Calgary<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to make sure that we keep Albertans safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/national.jpg\" alt=\"For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n<p>For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n<p>But when asked whether government was considering lifting the grizzly bear hunt ban, Loewen said, \u201cWe don\u2019t have any plans of doing that at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The province went on to say there are other options aside from a hunt, including an effort to enhance bear habitats to entice the animals away from campgrounds and farms.<\/p>\n<p>Recent attacks<\/p>\n<p>Lethbridge, Alta. couple <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/10005074\/bear-attack-bad-harrowing-final-message-from-alberta-couple-killed-by-grizzly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse<\/a> were killed in a bear attack while hiking in Banff National Park in October 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>In August of this year, Min. Loewen said<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11350828\/fisher-expected-to-recover-grizzly-bear-attack-southern-alberta\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> a fisher was attacked by a grizzly bear<\/a> near Milk River, 300 km south of Calgary.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, a hunter was rushed to hospital by air ambulance a week ago <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11505435\/jumping-pound-grizzly-bear-attack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">after being attacked by a grizzly bear south of Cochrane, Alta.<\/a> Another hunter shot the bear, which was believed to have died.<\/p>\n<p>A second bear, however, fled the area after the encounter.<\/p>\n<p>Kim Tichener, owner of the company Bear Safety and More, told Global News it\u2019s no surprise that some bears are still out and haven\u2019t gone into hibernation yet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt varies each season. If we have vegetation stay out longer, we have a warmer fall. We\u2019re going to have bears out for a longer period,\u201d said Tichener.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11514729\/federal-budget-carney-government-first-confidence-votes\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/f71255d9dd25fe693053a16aad7d0c7f6cdd392b987caba669a367341d132091.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tCarney government survives first confidence vote over budget\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11515475\/matt-jeneroux-conservative-mp-resigns\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CP157712419.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tConservative MP Matt Jeneroux resigns from House of Commons ahead of budget vote\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Alberta hunter recalls own grizzly bear close call, urges hunting safety'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/wildlife-grizzly.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:11<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta hunter recalls own grizzly bear close call, urges hunting safety\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tNo accurate count<\/p>\n<p>Further complicating matters, Alberta doesn\u2019t have an accurate count on how much the bear population has grown because it\u2019s been several years since a count was conducted.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems the population now is about 900, maybe 950 individuals. Nobody knows for sure,\u201d said biologist, Colleen St. Clair, from the University of Alberta in Edmonton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom a population and conservation perspective, we have a ways to go until grizzly bears can be considered recovered in Alberta.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But out on the ridge, Lagarde and his fellow ranchers and neighbours have a different point of view.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think now is the time to look at introducing a sustainable hunt to manage the population,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 with a file from Ken MacGillivray\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: '\u2018All options on the table\u2019 to manage Alberta\u2019s grizzly population'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/251106-HEATHER.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:00<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018All options on the table\u2019 to manage Alberta\u2019s grizzly population\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t&amp;copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An effort by the Alberta government to protect its grizzly bear population may be too successful. A number&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,2065,75,156468,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-268376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-grizzly-bears-alberta","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}