Tragedy strikes Banff as two dead bodies found by the police

‘Tragic’: Two people dead after grizzly bear attack in Canada’s Banff National Park

A couple was killed after a bear attack in Canada’s Banff National Park on Friday night.

 

In a statement, Parks Canada said it received an alert from a GPS device indicating a bear attack around 8:00 p.m. local time inside the park. The alert came from the Red Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch.

Officials said weather conditions did not allow for use of a helicopter, so the Wildlife Human Attack Response Team had to travel by foot. By the time they arrived to the area around 1:00 a.m., the couple was dead.

 

Kim Titchener, the founder of Bear Safety and More and also a friend of the couple, told Reuters that the couple’s dog was also killed.

Team members euthanized a grizzly bear that was acting aggressively in the area near their bodies.

 

“This is a tragic incident, and Parks Canada wishes to express its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” the statement read.

The victims’ identities were not immediately released.

 

Grizzlies, black bears found in Banff

Banff National Park, located in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains is known to have both black and grizzly bears.

 

Last month, a grizzly and her cub followed a group of hikers for several minutes. It’s unusual for grizzlies to approach groups of people on a trail, but the bears did not attack in this incident.