It's berry season!
Your chances of encountering a bear on the trail are higher at this time of year.
Berry bushes are found throughout the park, often bordering trails, roads and campgrounds. Both black bears and grizzly bears are zeroing in on this critical food source right now.
It鈥檚 easy to surprise a bear that is focused on eating berries.
To reduce the risk of a bear encounter:
Make noise while hiking or cycling on trails.
Pay attention to your surroundings; look for fresh signs of bear activity, such as tracks and scat.
Be especially careful near buffalo berry patches.
If you see a bear, back away slowly and leave the area.
Carry bear spray and know how to use it.
Before hitting trails, check warnings and closures
On July 11, Resource Conservation staff posted a bear warning on the section of Trail 7 adjacent to the Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course that spans from Maligne Lake Road to the Junction of Trail 7 and 7a. Grizzly bears and black bears tend to frequent this trail especially at this time of year, when berries are ripe and plentiful in the area. In previous years, the potential for people to encounter bears here was high enough to warrant a temporary closure to allow bears to feed and keep people safe.
There are presently also bear warnings on the Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course and at Opal Hills. For the most current warnings and closures, check in with the park Information Centres or go to www.pc.gc.ca/jasper and click on 鈥淐losures and Warnings in Jasper National Park.鈥�
Important time of year for bears
This is a critical time of year for bears, as they work to build fat reserves large enough to allow them to survive the coming winter months without eating. In berry season, bears can eat up to 20,000 calories of food per day!
Making campgrounds safer for people and bears
As a safety measure over the past number of years, Parks Canada has removed buffalo berry bushes from Whistlers, Wapiti and Wabasso campgrounds to reduce the natural bear attractant and in turn reduce bear issues at these locations.
Please report all bear sightings immediately to Jasper Dispatch at 852-6155.
