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When wildlife photographer Mike Reece went to Fish Creek Provincial Park looking for owls on Tuesday, he got more than he bargained for.
“I see this black movement in the bushes,” Reece said. “I was like, ‘No it can’t be.'”
He had found himself face-to-face with a black bear.
“The head pops up and it just looks at me,” he said. “It was like four feet away.”
“I’ve just yelled at black bears in the past, cause they tend to run away,” Reece said. “I didn’t have a chance to yell. It just sort of turned and booked towards the river.”
Not wanting to run into the bear again, he was quick to turn around — only to encounter it again at a nearby beaver dam shortly after.
“It was climbing up on logs and sort of fishing,” Reece said. “It was eating cattails when I saw it.”
“At the same time, the beavers were just slamming their tails down because I don’t think they’re familiar with a black bear being in their domain,” he said. “So it was an exciting evening.”
Reece says he’ll carry bear spray in Fish Creek going forward.
He’s not the only person to run into that same bear, according to Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services (FWES).
“Since June 16, [FWES] has received multiple reported sightings of a small black bear in Fish Creek Provincial Park in southwest Calgary,” the province said in a statement.
“The small black bear is likely a juvenile and has been sighted primarily within the green space of the park, particularly in the areas known as Marshall Springs, Votier’s Flats, and Bebo Grove.”
“FWES hasn’t received any reports of aggressive or defensive behaviour exhibited by the bear, nor is there any evidence to suggest that it has been accessing any unnatural food sources,” the province said.
Southwest Calgary frequently visited by bears
Calgary wildlife biologist Sara Jordan-McLachlan says bear sightings in and around Fish Creek are “not as uncommon as you might think.”
She said the area, which is part of a wildlife corridor frequently travelled by animals, is “really good habitat for bears with lots of food sources, lots of berry bushes, lots of tubers to eat, lots of good stuff in there. So it’s not going to be uncommon that they would come in and out.”
Kristine Strom filmed a young black bear in an unusual environment: the Westhills shopping centre in southwest Calgary. A few hours later, police said the bear was captured in the nearby neighbourhood of Signal Hill.
The City of Calgary said in a statement that it doesn’t track bear sightings or directly deal with bears.
The city’s website lists 11 neighbourhoods known to be frequented by bears, all of which are in the southwest quadrant. Those communities include Oakridge, Discovery Ridge and Woodlands.
Last year, FWES relocated two bears captured in Calgary.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife captured a black bear in the southwest Calgary community of Oakridge on Oct. 9, after receiving reports of what’s believed to have been the same bear in the area over the last few weeks. The agency told CBC News the bear was successfully relocated outside of the city.
“I would say it’s not a bad idea to have be prepared to run into a bear at any time,” Jordan-McLachlan said. “Staying on designated trails is also going to help because that bear is probably retreating into areas that it’s not expecting to see people during the day.”
“If you do see the bear, chances are that it’s likely non-aggressive and it’s likely accustomed to being around people.”
But that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be bear aware.
“Sometimes they get so focused on whatever they’re eating, whether it’s ants or berries or whatever it might be, that they’re not noticing that there’s a person around,” Jordan-McLachlan said. “So that could definitely provoke a defensive attack.”
But while the bear is unlikely to go out of its way to attack anyone, Jordan-McLachlan says its important that people not try to seek out the bear.
“The more people that are trying to find it, the more cornered it’s going to feel, and the more likely we are to see an aggressive encounter,” she said.
