Parks Canada is under pressure to immediately review its scientific research program in Banff after a hungry grizzly attacked and devoured two young grizzlies caught in snares.
The two sub -dult bears died on June 8 and 12 near Spray Lakes, in the southern end of Banff National Park, during the federal agency's spring trapping program.
The program aims to further scientific understanding of grizzly bears, and give Parks Canada information upon which to base decisions, including how to manage human use.
But critics say the deaths highlight the need for a full-scale environmental review of the bear research in Banff, including the impacts such intrusive trapping methods have on grizzlies.
Naturalist and photographer Douglas Leighton said given the food stress bears are facing, and the high concentration of bears in the area, the two deaths were a predictable risk ignored by Parks Canada.
Leighton, who has long questioned the interpretation of the bear research in the park and believes it to be fraudulent, said collaring research is unnecessary for population monitoring.
"This kind of intrusive bear research is not necessary and greatly contributes to the habituation of bears, and is clearly dangerous to bears... they were left snared and vulnerable,'' said Leighton.
"These kind of experiences when bears are drugged and collared are the grizzly bear equivalent to an alien abduction. It is incredibly traumatic for highly intelligent animals.''
At the same time, the Bow Valley Grizzly Bear Alliance is renewing its call for a comprehensive conservation strategy to protect the estimated 60 grizzly bears in Banff National Park.
The alliance wants such a conservation plan to focus on reducing human-caused bear deaths, provide grizzlies with safe and secure habitat and commit to ongoing research and monitoring.
"If we're going to trap and collar to gather information that tells us we need to do X, Y and Z, we have to translate that into policy and decision,'' said coordinator Jeff Gailus.
"We're already at three dead grizzlies in the park, two of them females. The population simply can't sustain this number of mortalities.''
Parks Canada officials say they are working on a plan for the future conservation of grizzlies in the park, which will likely be incorporated into the five-year review of the Banff National Park Management Plan.
It will provide some long-term direction on how Parks Canada will manage for grizzly bears, including managing human use, habitat restoration and maintenance.
Park officials say Canadian legislation does not trigger an environmental assessment for trapping and collaring bears, however a review was conducted for the Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project (ESGBP) in 1994.
Banff National Park superintendent Bill Fisher said the federal agency would prepare an environmental strategy for future grizzly bear monitoring, but is waiting on ESGBP's final report, expected this fall.
Fisher said the trapping of grizzlies in the southern end of the park, a core area for breeding sows, aimed to further the understanding of the resident grizzly bear population.
"We've taken specific management actions down there. The Middle Spray has a seasonal closure and we also know we have relatively high levels of backcountry use in the Bryant Creek area,'' he said.
"We want to make sure we maintain that data set and it can help us make better decisions about human use management.''
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