After cubs killed, white grizzly bear killed on Trans-Canada Highway

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A rare white grizzly bear has died after being struck on the Trans-Canada Highway on Thursday, just hours after its two cubs were killed in a separate incident.

Nicknamed Nakoda locally and also known as Bear 178, the animal was hit by a car near the Lake O’Hara turnoff in Yoho National Park on Thursday evening, according to an emailed statement from Parks Canada on Monday.

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The bear was confirmed dead on Saturday after Parks Canada staff received a mortality signal from her GPS collar. The collar sets off if the animal doesn’t move for 24 hours.

“The bear was startled by a train and ran into the road in front of two vehicles. One vehicle was able to swerve and avoid a collision, but a second vehicle was unable to react in time and struck the bear,” the agency said.

Wildlife management staff witnessed the collision and saw the bear flee back into the forest over the wildlife fence following the incident. She was observed limping, with no other visible injuries.

Saundi Stevens, a wildlife management specialist for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit said while specialists were really optimistic the bear would recover, it is thought the animal later succumbed to internal injuries related to the collision.

“Every female grizzly bear that’s killed in the park is a significant loss to that breeding population,” said Stevens.

The bears’ two cubs were struck and killed along the Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park during a separate incident just 12 hours earlier on Thursday.

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“It’s been suggested that she (Bear 178) returned to the highway that day to mourn her deceased cubs,” said Stevens. “This is an example of anthropomorphizing bear behaviour. In reality, bears often eat their deceased young — which humans may not see as an act of mourning.”

After the death of the cubs, the bear wasn’t showing any signs of distress, said Stevens. “She was observed each and every time foraging for dandelions along the roadside, in the ditch, just a behaviour that was really typical for her.”

Bear had previously been relocated away from highway

Parks Canada staff had been monitoring the bears’ movements along the road on June 5 after receiving reports of “fence intrusion.” Wildlife staff had attempted to prevent the bears from spending time on the highway, repairing wildlife fencing and hazing them away from the roadside.

“At some point in the early morning, the bears returned to the roadside, and the cubs were fatally struck on the road,” the agency said.

Specialists with Parks Canada have spent hundreds of hours and more than two years managing Bear 178, work that often involved them accompanying her “from dawn until dusk.”

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The bear was observed on May 23 this year with her cubs along the Trans-Canada Highway, at which point Parks Canada implemented a no-stopping and speed reduction for a 10-kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park.

Just weeks ago, the team was celebrating Bear 178’s emergence from the den with two new cubs as a reproductive success. Grizzlies are considered a species of special concern by Parks Canada, and may have a litter every three years at best.

“And now her death . . . and it’s actually devastated the team that was so deeply invested in really trying to prevent this outcome,” said Stevens.

In 2022, the bear was relocated away from the highway three times and fitted with a GPS collar to assist in monitoring her movement.

Wildlife fencing was electrified in Yoho National Park in 2023 to help discourage Bear 178 from climbing fencing and she was not seen along the road during that year.

Shortly after Bear 178 was spotted in late May, it returned to the backcountry, only to emerge on the highway again on June 5.

“In terms of relocating, this just all happened really quickly,” said Stevens.

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Even if time allowed, it would have been very unlikely they chose to locate all three bears.

“Capturing a family group of bears is really difficult, and it comes with a high amount of risk,” she said.

Believed that return was food-driven

Wildlife specialists have observed that Bear 178 was driven to spend time along the highway, said Parks Canada.

“Bears will return to areas they know and to areas with high-value habitat. In spring, bears return to the valley bottoms to find food sources,” the authority said.

Due to the high level of human interaction she had experienced while roadside, Bear 178 had become habituated to humans, leading her to become overly comfortable along the highway.

“This year, with snow lingering in the high country and the added food stress of feeding her cubs, wildlife specialists believe she returned to familiar and reliable high-value food sources along the road,” said Parks Canada.

“Parks Canada is working hard to make roads safer for wildlife and continues to remind visitors of the importance of not stopping to view wildlife.”

“The lesson is, the more time that bears spend in close proximity to people the more comfortable they become,” said Stevens.

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