Grizzly bear attacks, kills couple and their dog at Canada’s Banff National Park

A couple and their dog have tragically died after being attacked by a grizzly bear last month while hiking in Canada’s popular Banff National Park.

The “tragic incident” was detailed recently on the park’s Facebook page.

According to the post, the situation came to light on Friday, September 29 after Parks Canada Dispatch in Banff National Park received an alert from an inReach/GPS device indicating a bear attack.

The transmission reportedly originated in the Red Deer River Valley, west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, a remote region 80 miles northwest of Calgary, Alberta.

They subsequently dispatched a “Wildlife Human Attack Response Team,” who arrived at the site at around 1 a.m. to discover the two deceased individuals.

While in the area, the team happened across a grizzly bear that “displayed aggressive behavior,” prompting Parks Canada staff to euthanize it on-site “to ensure public safety.”

Police arrived hours later and transported the victims and their dog, which had also been killed in the attack, to Sundre, Alberta.

While the deceased couple has not yet been named, a family member of one of the victims described them in a statement as “long-term partners who loved the outdoors and were inseparable,” the CBC reported.

“They lived for being in the backcountry and were two of the most cautious people I know,” the bereaved relative said. “They knew bear protocol and followed it to a tee.”

“This is a tragic incident and Parks Canada wishes to express its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” Banff National Park wrote on their FB page.

The details of the attack remain unclear; however, experts feel that it could’ve been caused by a surprise run-in with the beast.

“They could have surprised a bear at close range and had an encounter that led to a defensive attack,” said Kim Titchener, the founder of the Alberta-based Bear Safety and More organization. “It’s extremely rare to see predatory attacks by grizzly bears, but not unheard of.”

She postulated that the victims could have still been hiking or setting up their camp when they encountered the grizzly, adding that bears are generally more active at dusk.

However, a family member of one of the deceased refuted this theory. They claimed that the couple, who checked in every night, sent them a GPS alert at 5 p.m. saying they’d set up camp for the night.

“This means they were not traveling after dark and they were not setting up camp when the attack happened,” they said.

Currently, deaths by grizzly bear attacks are extremely rare with only 14% of them resulting in fatalities, according to Kitchener.