{"id":824392,"date":"2026-07-25T02:51:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/824392\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T02:51:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:51:46","slug":"parks-canada-charges-hikers-after-grizzly-bear-run-in-with-off-leash-dog-in-banff-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/824392\/","title":{"rendered":"Parks Canada charges hikers after grizzly bear run-in with off-leash dog in Banff National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

A pair of hikers with an off-leash dog were charged after coming close to a well-known grizzly bear on a popular hiking trail in Banff National Park.<\/p>\n

Parks Canada charged them after a social media video on TikTok generated several million views since being posted July 21. The video, recorded by a woman, shows a man with bear spray and a small off-leash dog running between the two of them as grizzly bear No. 142 walks toward them on the trail.<\/p>\n

James Eastham, a spokesperson for Parks Canada\u2019s Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit, said an investigation by park wardens led to charges since the dog was off-leash.<\/p>\n

\u201cFailure to keep your pets leashed in the national parks poses risks to pets and wildlife,\u201d he said in an email. \u201cBears and other wildlife may react aggressively toward dogs they view as threats, resulting in their injury or death.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law says people have to keep their pets on a leash of three metres or less in national parks. If found guilty, the two could face a fine of up to $25,000.<\/p>\n

WATCH | 2 hikers and dog encounter grizzly bear in Banff National Park:\"\"<\/p>\n

2 hikers and dog encounter grizzly bear in Banff National Park<\/p>\n

A clip of a video posted to the TikTok account twohumanstwodogs shows a close grizzly bear encounter on a hiking trail in Banff National Park. Parks Canada has charged the two hikers because their dog was off-leash.<\/p>\n

The incident took place on Taylor Lake trail, about 15 kilometres southeast of Lake Louise.<\/p>\n

CBC reached out to the two people charged, but didn\u2019t hear back before publishing the story.<\/p>\n

Staying safe with wildlife<\/p>\n

In the roughly 90-second video, the man is heard yelling at bear 142 to \u201cback off\u201d and \u201cget out of here\u201d several times.<\/p>\n

Bear 142 walks along the trail until she moves into the woods at the end of the video.<\/p>\n

Nick de Ruyter, program director of WildSmart for the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, said it was good the pair had bear spray, but the focus should be on the animal rather than filming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety of them, their pets and other people is far more important than getting that video,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He praised Parks Canada for moving ahead with charges since \u201cthere was so much time in the video to grab the dog and put it on a leash.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Ruyter focuses on public education, but \u201cafter that, there needs to be some type of enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just \u2018I\u2019m going to take a quick selfie.\u2019 There are consequences to those actions, and it will affect the wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parks Canada advises people encountering wildlife in the national park can happen at any time.<\/p>\n

It recommends people make noise to avoid surprising wildlife, watch for signs such as tracks and scat, travel in larger groups, keep a distance from animals, and carry bear spray.<\/p>\n

\u201cOff-leash dogs can also cause wildlife stress, leading to them avoiding important habitats and sources of food,\u201d Eastham said. \u201cAlways keep your pets on leash when visiting national parks.\u201d<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Bear activity is ramping up in the Rockies:<\/p>\n

Calgary Eyeopener8:40Bear activity is ramping up in the Rockies<\/p>\n

Politicians aren’t the only ones in Kananaskis causing a raucous. What you need to know when encountering a bear, from Nick de Ruyter, WildSmart Program Director with the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley.Bear well-known to Parks Canada<\/p>\n

Bear 142 is one of Banff\u2019s most famous grizzly bears.<\/p>\n

The female grizzly is the daughter of bear 122 \u2014 also known as The Boss \u2014 and is estimated to be about 16 years old.<\/p>\n

She has had several cubs in the national park. In 2020, bear 136 \u2014 known as Split Lip \u2014 killed and ate<\/a> one of her cubs.<\/p>\n

Bear 142 lost another cub earlier this year when it was hit and killed by a train near Protection Mountain campground close to the Bow Valley Parkway.<\/p>\n

According to an access to information document obtained by CBC, it\u2019s believed there were about 71 grizzly bears in Banff National Park between 2021 and 2023.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re a threatened species in Alberta, and the federal government considers them a species of special concern.<\/p>\n

\"ABear 142 photographed on the train tracks in Banff National Park. One of her cubs was killed on the same stretch of railway on May 17, 2026. (Jason Leo Bantle)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":["post-824392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}