Because the G7 summit concludes within the widespread wilderness vacation spot of Kananaskis, Alta., officers say provincial groups managed frequent animal encounters with out critical incident.
Alberta conservation officers and fish and wildlife officers responded to occurrences involving grizzly bears, black bears, cougars, moose, bighorn sheep and deer through the summit, in response to a spokesperson with Alberta’s Ministry of Public Security and Emergency Companies.
“None of those occurrences concerned any irregular interactions with the wildlife in query and our commonplace strategies to securely transfer them away had been profitable,” Sheena Campbell wrote in an electronic mail.
A employee makes use of a skid steer to maneuver stone in entrance of the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, the place the G7 leaders’ assembly happened in Kananaskis, Alta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Officers responded to roughly 200 wildlife-related incidents, about half involving grizzly or black bears, stated Bryan Sundberg with Alberta Forestry and Parks.
All had been minor in nature, requiring solely minimal intervention with no relocations or hurt to wildlife, he stated.
“Primarily, we’d reply to areas on foot … to areas the place wildlife complaints had been obtained, and use noisemaking actions,” he stated.
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Response groups additionally used thermal imaging cameras and leveraged RCMP drones to observe real-time wildlife exercise.
“Moreover, specially-trained K9 groups, ‘bear canine,’ (had been) on-site to help our proactive strategy,” Campbell wrote.
Bear canine had been embedded with wildlife mitigation and response groups, primarily to discourage bears safely.
Complicated, wild setting
Within the run-up to the summit, officers highlighted the “complexity” of internet hosting the summit within the distant terrain of the Kananaskis wilderness.
Stopping encounters with bears was of specific focus, each for the security of attendees and given previous incidents.
The final time the summit was held in Kananaskis in 2002, a bear that acquired too near the location was tranquilized and later died after falling from a tree.
Nick de Ruyter, program director of the BioSphere Institute’s WildSmart program, stated it is a busy time of yr for bear populations.
“They’ve come out of their dens of hibernation, in April and Could. They’re hungry, they’re on the lookout for meals,” he stated.
Nick De Ruyter, the Wild Good program director on the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, stated there being no main wildlife incidents reported through the G7 speaks to the tolerance and flexibility of native wildlife. (Vincent Bonnay/Radio-Canada)
Whereas he does not know the precise numbers, de Ruyter estimated there are round 65 grizzly bears and greater than 200 black bears within the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Nation space.
There being no wildlife conflicts through the G7 regardless of an inflow of individuals speaks to how tolerant and adaptable native wildlife is, de Ruyter stated.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the time, they do the fitting factor. They’re simply attempting to make a dwelling out on the panorama, and they’re going to keep away from us,” he stated.
“They will keep away from encounters and battle with individuals as a lot as they’ll. And so we simply have to do our half and respect that.”
